Block 33: Roaming Services, Future of Hotspot Apps, & 640K Strong

The People’s Network continues to push the boundaries on what’s possible in decentralized wireless this month. In this edition of the Block newsletter, we’ll cover Helium Roaming Services, the future of the Helium Wallet and Maker apps, Light Hotspots, Mappers updates, and more.

This week, we’re excited to announce Helium Roaming Services! Now LoRaWAN network providers can roam on Helium and leverage the world’s largest decentralized wireless network.

Roaming partners benefit through access to existing network infrastructure, the capability to expand into new markets globally, and by seeing immediate ROI without deploying additional gateways. Partners will also have their data and usage at their fingertips with the new Roaming dashboard. Read the announcement.

Techtenna is our latest roaming partner! Hotspot owners will make a positive impact in their communities by connecting devices from Techtenna customers such as Brabant Water water meters, Geosparc parking sensors, and LandStad De Baronie environmental sensors. Read the announcement.

As the Network catapults towards 1 million Hotspots, the core Helium team announced a new development for apps in the ecosystem. To allow DeWi and Hotspot Makers to create their own applications, the Helium App has been open-sourced. With provided Software Development Kits (SDKs), Hotspot Makers will introduce their own Maker apps.

Following these launches, a new app called the Helium Wallet will be ushered in to manage your $HNT and Network identity, allowing deeplinking into the Maker apps without compromising your 12 or 24-word seed phrase. Read the announcement.

With Hotspot coverage on the rise, a number of new users remind us of all the incredible applications that are made possible with a network owned and operated by the people.

Steeping Innovation: Focused on tea, Nibiaa’s large-scale deployment plans aim to modernize thousands of agricultural farms across India to achieve supply chain visibility, data-driven decisions, and profit maximization. Read more.

Staying Cool: Turning smart cold chain storage into a reality for applications such as food and pharmaceuticals, Kooler Farms makes sure your products stay cool, ensuring safety and quality during the last mile on The People’s Network. Read more and watch The Uplink.

Tackling Climate Change: To address climate change, Media Sourcery tackles supply chain transparency, clean energy, vegetation management, and regenerative agriculture for its work with the UN and Everpoint Services. Read more and watch The Uplink.

640K+ Hotspots Strong: Growth of The People’s Network continues to hit new highs, reaching over 640,000 Hotspots 🎉 with 5,000+ cities being added each month. That’s a lot of cities! Not to mention, 103 Full Hotspot and 38 Light Hotspot applications are bringing the future of hardware to the people.

HIP 54, 55, & 56 Passed: As Light Hotspot software and hardware undergo Testnet testing, two new proposals, HIP 54 and 55, were passed on the Light Hotspots roadmap alongside an improvement to State Channels, HIP 56. Light Hotspots will eliminate relayed status, syncing and snapshot issues, and SD card issues for Hotspots. Check out the milestone announcements on Discord.

DeWi Grant Apps: The DeWi Grant Committee is growing to evaluate and advise on applications. One incredible project uses The People’s Network to enable a distributed network of telescopes to autonomously image space. Watch the DeWi Grantee Showcase and apply for a grant.

Hexes Light Up: Alongside Hotspot coverage, thousands of Helium Mappers have started submitting coverage data to show the utility of the Network across hexes. Anyone can join the initiative by contributing data. Start mapping and participate in the giveaway of 10 free mappers.

Helium in The New York Times: Maybe there’s a use for crypto after all. Kevin Roose dives into the promising future of decentralized wireless in this front-page Business section feature. Read more.

Amir Haleem Takes Center Stage: Helium Co-Founder and CEO Amir Haleem discusses Helium’s foundation and the future of people-owned connectivity on Okay, Computer, Pod of Jake, and Epicenter Podcast.

Light Hotspots AMA: Community member and host of “The Hotspot Podcast,” Arman Dezfuli-Arjomandi MCs an Ask Me Anything on HIP 55: Validator Challenges. Listen here.

Project Highlights: Technical Program Manager at DeWi, Joey Hiller, shares his guide for an inexpensive DIY air-quality monitor on The People’s Network with an IKEA sensor, and community members Neil and Rob share a preview of their tracking app.