Helium CEO Says SpaceX's Mobile Strategy Validates Helium's DePIN Approach

When SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell was asked about mobile capex during the company's Q2 2026 earnings call, she described a plan to skip expensive low-band spectrum purchases by placing cellular femtocells alongside existing Starlink broadband hardware, letting coverage grow outward from the dish install base. For Mario Di Dio, CEO of Helium Network HNT$0.173+1.2%, the logic sounded familiar.

"It's pretty clear that Starlink and SpaceX have been thinking about launching their mobile services in a different way than a traditional model, and to me that's what resonated," Di Dio told Fierce Network in an interview published August 13. The Helium Network runs its wireless reward infrastructure on Solana, where hotspot operators earn HNT (HNT) and MOBILE (MOBILE) tokens for providing 5G and Wi-Fi coverage to subscribers.

The Cost Logic Both Companies Are Avoiding

Traditional carriers build macro cell networks speculatively: spectrum licenses, site acquisition, zoning, leasing, power, backhaul and radio deployment across wide areas, all paid before a single subscriber connects. Both Helium and SpaceX's emerging mobile approach, as Di Dio reads Shotwell's comments, start instead from where real demand already exists.

"This idea of deploying coverage as you need it is something that we've been trying to do at Helium for quite a while," Di Dio said. "We think on a much more microscopic level about the coverage needs and we serve that coverage where it's needed."

Roy Chua, founder of the AvidThink telecom research firm, put the structural overlap plainly in the same report: "Both Helium and SpaceX's models borrow real estate that exists and use similar approaches with femtocells or small cells to provide a radius of coverage. So, dishes, gateways and Superchargers with satellite backhaul for SpaceX, and subscriber premises and broadband for Helium."

How Helium's Network Operates on Solana

Helium's coverage infrastructure consists of Wi-Fi hotspots that individuals and businesses install at their premises. Operators earn HNT and MOBILE token rewards through Solana, which has served as the network's blockchain layer since Helium migrated from its own chain in 2023. Coverage data and reward calculations that previously required a purpose-built chain now run on Solana's shared validator set.

The consumer-facing Helium Mobile brand was sold to Noble Mobile, Andrew Yang's wireless carrier, earlier in 2026 for an undisclosed sum. Di Dio was named CEO of Helium Network, the infrastructure and protocol layer, following that deal. The network now serves millions of subscribers, according to Di Dio, through carrier relationships with T-Mobile and AT&T and through MVNOs including Noble Mobile. Geographic expansion is active in Mexico and Brazil alongside the U.S. footprint.

Where the Comparison Breaks Down

The parallel has a structural limit Chua was direct about: both Helium and SpaceX's model build coverage where customers have already installed hardware, not necessarily where traffic demand is highest. Dense urban areas and reliable indoor coverage have, historically, continued to favor macro towers on economic grounds. Femtocell and community Wi-Fi models have been tried before in the industry, Chua noted, and macro cells have generally won the cost argument.

Chua also flagged Helium's HNT incentive structure as a persistent challenge. He cited HNT's climb to roughly $55 in November 2021 alongside the broader crypto cycle, and its slide from $3 to approximately $0.18 in the twelve months prior to the interview. HNT currently carries 542,135 holders on Solana, a market cap of $31.4 million, and approximately $20,600 in 24-hour trading volume, per Compass data as of August 15.

"So it's still looking like challenging economics for at least the foreseeable future," Chua said.

Di Dio's Position on SpaceX as a Potential Partner

Di Dio said he does not see Starlink Mobile as a head-on competitor and told Fierce Network that Helium would be willing to collaborate with SpaceX directly if its mobile service goes live.

"From my perspective, we're open to collaborate with anybody, and so if SpaceX wants to collaborate and wants to use our network to start serving their customers once their service is up, we will be definitely up for that," he said.

The Helium Network's near-term priorities, as Di Dio described them, are building carrier management tooling and continuing to expand coverage geographically. "Our job continues to create those tools and to make the network continue to grow in the U.S. as well as abroad, in Mexico, in Brazil, and in other geographies," he said. "More news to come soon."