Helium, a 5G Internet-of-Things-focused project, has partnered with Dish Network to extend its 5G network in exchange for HNT rewards.
It has been reported that the partnership will offer Dish Network subscribers the opportunity to run Helium nodes and earn HNT token rewards for sharing their 5G wireless service with those in their area.
However, this marks the first major carrier to integrate the Helium 5G network into its ecosystem and is a significant sign of validation for the project and its technology.
Frank Mong, the COO of Helium, said:
“Dish understands the potential blockchain can have on the wireless industry, and as the first major carrier to join The People's Network, this partnership is real validation that the HNT incentive model is a powerful tool for deploying infrastructure at scale. Together with Dish and FreedomFi, Helium 5G will have a much broader reach where the customer benefits from the flywheel of network incentives and the applications it enables.”
The report said that the Dish Network partnership is the latest in a busy year of growth for the Helium network, which now has more than 256,000 individual nodes around the world operated by 93,561 users. This partnership with Dish Network was made possible by a community vote in April which approved the addition of a second 5G capable network to the protocol through a partnership with FreedomFi.
Likewise, this will allow Helium to offer support for devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Helium has also received increasing support from multiple hardware manufacturers that have begun making hotspots compatible with the Helium network and this is expected to expand the network’s reach.
It has been analyzed that data shows that since hitting a low of $16.45 on September 29, the price of HNT has swelled 42.2% to a daily high at $23.50 on October 26 as its 24-hour trading volume spiked 162.75% to $35 million.
Thus, VORTECS™ data also began to detect a bullish outlook for HNT on October 20, prior to the recent price rise.
Source: Cointelegraph