A venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, Andreessen Horowitz Capital Management has announced that it is part of a multimillion dollar investment in Helium Network, a global, distributed network of Hotspots that create public, long-range wireless coverage for LoRaWAN-enabled IoT devices. People with Helium hotspots installed are paid in cryptocurrency, Helium Blockchain, when IoT objects log on to their hotspot.
“Helium has delivered extensive IoT connectivity… as the first to create a wireless peer-to-peer IoT network to serve sensors, trackers and multiple types of devices,” EE Times wrote. “The company utilizes customer-installed hotspots to enable links for low power wide area (LPWA) sensors and devices. Helium has said that only 50 to 100 hotspots would be needed to cover most cities.”
The investment acknowledges Helium Network’s decision to add on an open 5G network with FreedomFi, which will provide small cell type coverage for 5G devices using general access Citizens Broadband Radio Service spectrum.
“Helium is now evolving and has embarked on the path to deploy a 5G cellular network of gateways and hotspots,” AH Capital Management said. “We’re excited about Helium’s potential to provide comprehensive 5G connectivity across the world in a way that’s faster and more capital-efficient than traditional telecom infrastructure.”
In April, FreedomFi, an open 5G company, partnered with Helium Network to help mobile network operators accelerate their 5G Coverage using FreedomFi Gateways, a consumer-deployed connectivity device that pairs with 5G antennas. The new FreedomFi Gateways were designed to interoperate with the Helium Network by providing 5G cellular coverage.
“The FreedomFi gateway is a commodity, x86 network appliance that offers a straightforward, highly affordable path for anyone to build their own Private LTE or 5G network using open source software and small cell radios,” said Joey Padden, FreedomFi co-founder and CTO in a press release. “The 5G small cell market will be growing at 40 percent for the next five to seven years and we’ll see a lot of competition and innovation.” FreedomFi is vendor agnostic and works on a Private LTE or 5G network.
In April, Amir Haleem, CEO and Founder of Helium Network, wrote about the company’s journey since it began in 2013 with a mission to become a ubiquitous, global wireless network.
“We decided to focus our initial efforts on an open source wireless protocol, LoRaWAN, purpose-built for IoT devices and sensors. By adding the open source Helium blockchain, we unlocked the barrier of traditional centralized network build-outs by spreading the cost across a decentralized ownership model,” he wrote. “The best part, the accelerated growth is almost all community-driven around the world.”
The People’s Network is live with 28,000+ hotspots in more than 3,800 cities worldwide, with another 200,000+ hotspots on backorder. More than 600,000 hotspots are forecast by the company in the next 18 months.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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