Has this Web3 product become easier/cheaper to use than its Web2 competitors? (Is that even allowed?)

TL; DR

• The crypto-powered Helium Mobile network just announced that it will be expanding nationwide in the US.

• We use blockchain products all the time! But that’s usually because there isn’t a pre-existing Web2 equivalent that caught our attention first.

• Helium is somehow cheaper than the competition and can fall back on the T-mobile (for which Chevy already pays $55 p/m).

Full story

This might be a first…

A Web3 product that beats its Web2 competitor in terms of ease of use and cost (?)

The crypto-powered Helium Mobile network just announced that it will be expanding nationwide in the US.

The deal they are pitching is:

• BYO phone.

• No contract.

• Unlimited talk, text and data for $20 per month.

• The network piggybacks on T-Mobile’s network if there is no access to the decentralized data network.

The reason this article is being written under ‘ This seems important’ is because this is the first time a crypto product is pushing us to:

1. Change our pre-existing behavior.

2. Make the leap from an established Web2 service.

Of course, we use blockchain products all the time! But that’s usually because there isn’t a pre-existing Web2 equivalent that caught our attention first.

(For example, using a self-managed wallet to purchase NFTs is a Web3-only thing).

Here’s why this makes us all giddy:

Chevy currently pays $55 USD per month on T-mobile. The cheaper (Web2) options available to him are:

• Tello, unlimited talk/text/data for $25 pm without contract.

• Mint Mobile, unlimited talk/text/data for $30 pm with contract.

• Visible (Verizon’s low-cost youth network), unlimited talk/text/data for $25 pm with contract.

Of the three, Tello comes closest to Helium’s deal (it only misses out on price, by $5).

But that’s the crazy thing:

When using blockchain products, we tend to assume that they will not play nice with Web2 networks and will likely incur higher costs.

Helium is somehow cheaper than the competition and can fall back on the T-mobile (for which Chevy already pays $55 p/m).

Wild!