USV has been an investor in the Helium network since 2019. I have always loved the idea of using web3 technologies to let consumers to “peer produce” a communications network creating a people-powered network.
Helium started out powering communications between low-power “Internet of Things (IOT)” devices but with the introduction of Helium Mobile back in May, they are now powering a cell phone network.
My friend Stephen started using Helium Mobile last month and so I decided to join him. I signed up for Helium Mobile yesterday ($25/month but free during the beta period) and added it as a second SIM on my phone.
Now on the upper right of my home screen, I have two cell networks instead of one:
For now, I am going to use Helium Mobile alongside my primary carrier, T-Mobile, but I do plan to eventually scrap T-Mobile and use Helium Mobile exclusively.
Helium Mobile offers members the opportunity to earn Mobile tokens by sharing your location with the network. They call this “mapping”. I turned that on yesterday and should start seeing Mobile tokens in my Helium Mobile app today.
If you want to join me as a Helium Mobile customer, you can do that here.
