The telecommunications industry is at a critical situation. As the consumption of global data, traditional telecommunications operators face a perfect storm of challenges: growth of stagnant subscribers, expensive infrastructure maintenance and an insatiable demand of bandwidth. This capacity creak is not just a problem for carriers; It is an imminent crisis for consumers who trust more and more in perfect connectivity in their daily lives.
The telecommunications tight
In 2024, AT&T projected $ 4.7 billion in site lease costs. Add Verizon and T-Mobile, and the annual cost of leases for wireless coverage in the US. UU. It approaches the amazing $ 15 billion. As infrastructure costs increase, it is projected that margins in Internet access will increase more slowly for telecommunications companies. Meanwhile, the demand continues to exploit, with the global consumption of data on telecommunications networks that are projected to grow almost 2x by 2027.
The attempts of the industry to find new sources of income, such as through fixed wireless access, which is used to connect Internet users at home through cellular connections, will exacerbate the problem by placing an additional voltage in the capacity cellular. As a result, consumers face the possibility of a degraded service and increased costs.
Enter the decentralized physical infrastructure network (Depin), a solution that promises to address the front capacity dilemma. In a decentralized model, the infrastructure is owned, deployed and maintained by multiple parts instead of a central authority as a large telecommunications operator. In exchange for sharing the cost and work of implementing a new network capacity, infrastructure owners are rewarded with blockchain incentives.
By taking advantage of distributed resources and blockchain technology, operators can see:
- Fast coverage creation: Depin networks can create coverage/capacity where more is needed and implement that coverage faster than with the traditional model.
- Scalability without layers: The expansion is no longer limited by capital intensive infrastructure projects.
- Reduced Opex costs: By distributing the implementation and maintenance work, operators reduce operating expenses and consumers benefit from savings.
- Improved performance: Decentralized networks can give operators the ability to choose which radios serve which users for geographies and specific schedules of the day.
- Greater trust: By providing an immutable and transparent older book, Blockchain guarantees the visibility of the quality of experience metrics in a distributed system.
Overcome resistance to change
For many telecommunications executives, embraceing decentralization represents a significant cultural change. But they would be wise to consider history while looking towards the future of their industry. For example, when the initial change of analog networks to digital began in the 1990s, consumers and industry executives doubted their systems. But once implemented, 2G cell technology improved capacity and efficiency, and also improved the quality of the voice, SMS messaging and data services that would lay the bases for subsequent generations of mobile services.
Concerns about service quality, control and security no longer need to deter a transition to a decentralized network. Each of these problems can be satisfactorily addressed through implementations based on solid standards and government models to achieve the long -term benefits of adopting decentralized models, as well as preparing the scenario for future innovations and improvements. When collaborating with Depins, telecommunications can position themselves at the forefront of a new era in connectivity.
Decentralization of traditional operators: Creation of data coverage and discharge
One of the most promising entry points for Depin is through the creation of coverage and the discharge of operators. Decentralized telecommunications networks can create coverage where it did not exist before. Currently, operators identify regions where connectivity is needed, and business development teams are involved with local real estate owners to lease and develop sites for expanded coverage. It is an intensive process of time and resources with considerable attachments.
Depins, however, can deliver a new model of “aiming and shooting” where carriers directly indicate to the decentralized builder community where coverage is needed. Operators can use tools such as the helium planner to mobilize communities to create coverage where they know that it will be used, benefiting both builders and mobile customers, and instantly improve the operator’s network.
Helium stands out as an excellent example of a decentralized telecommunications network that traditional operators use successfully. The network already collaborates with several telecommunications companies, both in the United States and in Mexico, the latter through its association with Telefónica, a testimony of the growing acceptance of decentralized solutions by the main actors in the industry.
By encouraging people and companies to operate access points, more than 400,000 subscribers of US telecommunications operators connect daily to the helium network to access the Internet through access points. With more than 500 terabytes of data transfers in Helio, the Network has shown that traditional telecommunications companies can adopt the capacity, safety and effectiveness of decentralized networks.
Hugging a decentralized future
The expansion of the decentralized network will become even more critical as 6G unfolds throughout the country in the coming years. As indicated in the recently published Vision Declaration of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), we will need a more robust and intentional collaboration throughout the industry to “achieve ubiquitous connectivity” to overcome expensive cell infrastructure improvements. The industry needs profitable download solutions to implement this next generation of wireless technology efficiently.
As the telecommunications industry deal with unprecedented challenges, decentralized networks offer a path to follow. By taking advantage of blockchain technology, adopting innovative associations and reinventing the very nature of connectivity, telecommunications leaders can prosper in the coming decades.
