As the number of IoT devices continues to grow, keeping them affordable online has proven difficult, which is why Napster co-creator Shawn Fanning, Sproutling founder Chris Bruce and Amir Haleem. They have decided to build the world's first pair. peer-to-peer wireless network. His company, Helium, has created its own hotspot which is used to power the People Network. In addition to providing connectivity to IoT devices, the Helium hotspot also rewards its users with a new cryptocurrency that can be used to offset the initial cost of the device. To learn more about Helium's access point and the peer-to-peer wireless network it powers, TechRadar Pro spoke with Helium CEO Amir Haleem.
What inspired you and the other Helium co-founders to create the world's first peer-to-peer wireless network?
We had some friends who were building hardware businesses. Everything from counting foot traffic in commercial buildings to connected baby monitors. They all had the same problem when it came to retrieving data from the internet: either you needed a nearby phone, or the sensor itself needed a cell phone plan. It was virtually impossible to scale any type of sensor-based business when cellular connectivity alone would cost €30/month or more per sensor. What was needed was a low-cost, energy-efficient network specially designed for these sub-voice devices, such as sensors. Shawn and I decided to find a way to remove these barriers, which ultimately led us to start building The People's Network, a low-cost IoT network that works everywhere, even outdoors.
What is your target market? What types of customers will benefit from these products?
Helium is very similar to Airbnb or Lyft. We have created a two-sided market. On the supply side, helium hotspot owners can be anyone with home internet access. We call them Hotspot hosts or members of the People network. They own and operate helium access points themselves, which means they offer wireless coverage to the IoT devices around them using LongFi technology. LongFi combines the popular open wireless standard LoRaWAN with the Helium blockchain. The Helium Hotspot also serves as the full node of the blockchain and mines the Helium (HNT) cryptocurrency to prove its location and network coverage. The Helium blockchain is the engine that fuels both the health of the network and the economic system that operates on both sides of the market. The demand side of our business is the users who benefit from the network. This ranges from IoT enthusiasts to large enterprises that need to connect small sensors to the Internet. ReadyRefresh, beverage delivery service company Nestlé, agricultural technology company Agulus, and Conserv, a collection-oriented environmental monitoring platform that provides extensive coverage of artistic and cultural collections to its clients, are examples of companies that already benefit from the advantages of our network.
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(Image credit: Hélium)
Have cities or communities decided to use helium access points to offer wireless services to their residents?
As our network is built by individuals, individuals, and consumers, we have thus far spurred the growth of network coverage in more than 1,000 cities in North America. Many entrepreneurs, whom we call helium sponsors, in some cases have purchased and deployed more than 15 helium access points to provide coverage in multiple cities. In some cases, they have worked with corporate users to provide coverage in areas where IoT devices need Internet access. This created a unique symbiotic relationship. Usage Example: Conserv and Helium Patrons based in Birmingham, AL.
What types of security protections are included in the product and how does it protect your network?
1. The Helium Access Point has no open inbound ports, which are the most common attack vector for attackers to gain access to a device. We have taken several other security measures, including storing the Helium Hotspots private key in secure hardware built into the device 2. Helium devices are hardware protected, implement very low data rates, and use 128-bit encryption to all wireless communications. They do not use IP to communicate with the network, which makes it difficult and of little use for attackers to use them as attack vectors. We have XNUMXrd party penetration tests on our technology and we also continuously run bonus programs.
What contingencies have you included for users who want to migrate their existing IoT and other devices to the Helium network?
It is very easy to migrate existing LoRaWAN compliant devices to the Helium network. Helium Console is free and provides native integrations with all popular cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Anyone can sign up here to provision and manage their LoRaWAN compliant devices.
Can you tell us a little more about Helium tokens and what is the motivation of users joining your company's peer-to-peer network?
Helium (HNT), a new cryptocurrency, is only available for mining through Helium hotspots. This means that there was no pre-mining supply similar to how Bitcoin started. Helium hot spots earn HNT in two ways. First, the helium access point automatically and constantly tries to prove that it is actually in a specific place that it claims and provides useful IoT wireless coverage. When access points are successful, they earn HNT. Second, every time the Hotspot transfers data from a LongFi device to the Internet, the Hotspot earns HNT. Consumers who understand this concept like the idea that they own and operate the network and are rewarded for sharing their internet at home. Helium is a two-token system. As mentioned above, HNT is drawn through the helium point. For network users, it is very easy to use the network. Users purchase Helium Data Credits (DC). DCs are like AWS resource credits or airline miles. Users will be able to purchase domain controllers from the Helium Console, any Helium Hotspot operator, or anyone with HNT. DCs are created by converting HNT. Once the HNT is converted to DC, it is removed from circulation or "burned" as we call it. CDs are non-transferable and have a fixed value. They can only be used for network transmission of data from LongFi devices to the Internet. 1 DC is set to a value of €0.00001. For example, if you have a LongFi device that broadcasts every 5 minutes for 365 days, it will cost you approximately €1.04 to use the network. This economy is a game changer not only for IoT, but also for the telecom industry.
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(Image credit: Hélium)
What is the next step for Helium and do you plan to launch more devices?
Helium is committed to developing and increasing useful network coverage around the world. We believe that the economic system created by the Helium network will stimulate coverage growth and maintain it over time. While building the network is crucial, we are also focused on raising awareness of the possible applications that this new network brings. We have opened up all parts of our technology, including the blockchain, miner, API, LongFi firmware, and more. The code itself is here, and there's a lot of documentation available on our developer portal. Our goal is to reduce all barriers that prevent any IoT device or application from connecting to the Internet.