Andrew Yang’s telecom startup Noble Mobile has acquired Helium Mobile, the crypto-powered carrier built on the decentralized Helium network — a move aimed at expanding low-cost, crowd-built wireless options and challenging the big carriers.
What happened
- Noble Mobile, the affordability-focused telco founded by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, has taken over Helium Mobile. Helium Mobile previously experimented with a free plan (since discontinued) and says the acquisition aligns with its mission to make connectivity affordable.
- Helium Mobile COO Frank Mong told Decrypt the companies share “values, vision, and the people leading the organization,” and that Noble offers confidence that Helium Mobile subscribers “would be in the right hands long-term.”
User transition and tech stack
- Existing Helium Mobile customers should see a seamless transition: they can keep their phone numbers and will continue to access the same 5G service that routes over T-Mobile’s network.
- The deal also keeps Helium — the Solana-based, decentralized “crowd-built” cellular network of hotspots — as part of the offering. Noble has agreed to use Helium’s network alongside conventional carrier infrastructure.
Why this matters for carriers and the Helium network
- Helium’s network of nearly 139,000 mobile hotspots acts like a distributed layer of miniature cell towers, and has been tapped by carriers such as AT&T and Telefónica to fill coverage gaps or offload traffic.
- Nova Labs, the company that created the Helium network and launched Helium Mobile, said its priority is accelerating the network business. Mong emphasized that onboarding major U.S. carriers to offload traffic at scale is a core focus, and that handing Helium Mobile to Noble frees the team to chase that opportunity.
Numbers and token metrics
- The Helium network reportedly serves more than 2.6 million daily users and generates over $47,000 per day in revenue (Helium World dashboard).
- The network’s HNT token — part of the Solana-based model that rewards hotspot operators for providing coverage — has dipped recently, trading near $0.64 (down about 7% in the last day and roughly 28% over the past 30 days).
Bottom line
The acquisition transfers Helium Mobile’s customer-facing operations to Noble while preserving the decentralized, hotspot-driven model that underpins its crypto-native network. For Noble, it’s a fast track into a hybrid offering that combines traditional carrier partnerships (T-Mobile access) with Helium’s crowd-sourced coverage — a play to compete on price and reach against entrenched wireless incumbents.
Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
