Helium hotspots go live in bid to turn Miami network profitable

The Web3 telecommunications company is rolling out plug-and-play hotspots that Miami residents can purchase for $250

article-image

Source: Helium Mobile Hotspot

share

Nova Labs, the founding team behind the Helium wireless network, announced today the release of at-home hotspots for Miamians willing to shell out $250, plus a bump in their electric bill.

The hotspots are meant for deployment in commercial areas, such as cafes, where business owners could plug in a Helium hotspot and slowly accrue Helium-native MOBILE tokens. 

For Nova Labs, which debuted its Miami mobile network in partnership with T-Mobile in mid-August, the hotspots present another step in what has so far been a rocky road to economic sustainability. 

Helium has caught flack for the economics of its hotspot miners in the past as coverage providers struggled to earn the price of their mining rigs back amid tumbling MOBILE token prices. MOBILE is down almost 40% this month, per CoinMarketCap.

But as Nova Labs releases its own hotspot rigs, Boris Renski, the head of wireless, says the community has picked up a dose of bear market pragmatism.

In earlier iterations of Helium, hotspots were deployed indiscriminately, causing MOBILE returns to fall for individual miners, Renski told Blockworks. But recent proposals from Helium token owners would create tiered reward systems based on signal strength and limit the number of hotspots that can operate in the same area. 

Today’s Helium is optimized “towards more realistic steady state returns versus speeding into the hype cycles, so to speak,” Renski said. 

Under the Miami hybrid phone plan, users use Helium data unless there aren’t hotspots in range, at which point T-Mobile’s service takes over — and Helium foots the bill. Renski said Helium’s pathway to profitability and scale depends on subscribers using data from Helium hotspots instead of T-Mobile’s towers.

With these new hotspots, which Renski says come in at a lower price point and with easier setup than traditional CBRS cells, Helium is hoping it can move the needle.

Still, building a decentralized mobile network from scratch is a tricky financial proposition. Helium’s unlimited cellular plan also only costs users $5 per month, which is useful for adoption but not for the company’s bottom line.

“That’s not a secret: we are losing money on every subscriber,” Renski said.

Updated Oct. 3, 2023 at 5:05 pm ET: This article was updated to clarify the relationship between Helium Network, Nova Labs and Helium Mobile.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (1).png

Research

Aave’s revenues have doubled from April lows and are fast approaching all-time highs. With 35% of borrow interest coming from ETH and 55% from stablecoins, Aave is emerging as a powerful proxy as an ETH and stablecoin beta. As looping strategies accelerate growth and Horizon positions the protocol to ride the RWA wave, Aave is shaping up as one of DeFi’s most compelling multi-narrative plays.

article-image

Season One of the DeFi Renaissance Incentive Program (DRIP) will distribute up to 24 million ARB to users

article-image

Ahead of the FOMC September meeting, the labor market continues to embolden a dovish lean

article-image

A TradFi veteran could be Solana’s best bet at finding its own Michael Saylor

article-image

The crypto infrastructure firm expands into payments with a stablecoin network connecting fintechs, banks, and issuers

by Blockworks /
article-image

Private testnet aims to deliver low-cost settlement with partners including Visa, Deutsche Bank, and OpenAI

by Blockworks /
article-image

Solana saw $78 million in REV for August