Advancing & Accelerating Helium 5G in Europe

[marcusze]

Project

Advancing & Accelerating Helium 5G in Europe

Elevator Pitch
This project will pave the way for a successful Helium 5G roll-out in Europe by setting up Helium 5G pilot sites within current regulations, creating a constructive dialog around CBRS-like frameworks with regulators and setting precedent for business models with property owners and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). The end objective is to advance & accelerate the European launch of a full-scale Helium 5G network, by doing this in an open manner for anyone to test and build upon our work and learn from our journey.

Total fiat/HNT ask: 200,000-400,000$
Team or Project website: www.galiot.io/5G
Team or projects social: @galiot.io

Galiot-io Galiot, +500 Helium LoRa gateways deployed through a hosting-model. Several active commercial IoT-deployments. Have been consulting on Swedish authorities’ proposal on new regulations for the 5G-spectrum.

@marcusze, Marcus Zethraeus, Project lead - Co-founder of Galiot. Background in commercial & tech strategy consulting at Boston Consulting Group. Serial entrepreneur in Telecoms: A2P messaging application Cloudcom acquired 2017 and live sports event smartphone apps for Swiss Timing in 2010.

@donsjuan, Erik Lindstedt, Project lead - Head of Operations at Galiot. Entrepreneur with eleven years of experience as co-owner and vice-president of an IT-repair and reuse company with over $5M annual turnover. A member of Mensa, speaker at World Circular Economic Forum and manager of well over 100 individuals over the years.

@afo, Alexander Fred-Ojala - Co-founder of Galiot. Expert on emerging technology business applications specializing in AI, data science, and blockchain technology. AI and Blockchain Director of the Learn2Launch Program at UC Berkeley and former Data Lab Research Director at UC Berkeley's Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology.

@Panoukla67, Martin Ascard - Co-founder of Galiot. Serial entrepreneur with a diverse background ranging from electric car startup to exoskeleton R&D. DeFi expert and NFT connoisseur.

@mj0lken, Malcolm Horal - Co-founder of Galiot. Full stack developer experienced within signals intelligence and blockchain development.

Project Details

Using a novel approach to promote & coordinate public infrastructure investments, the Helium community has built a global LoRaWAN network of +700,000 hotspots in less than three years, covering almost every major city in the U.S and Europe, with Asia & rest of the world close behind. We believe there is a significant potential for this approach to be a paradigm shift in how infrastructure is financed, built, maintained and benefitting society.

Helium 5G has a tremendous potential to complement and in some cases even replace current models of building cellular networks. The opportunity to carve out a piece of this lucrative market and the time to act is now, which is why we want to spearhead the Helium model and push for widespread adaptation in Sweden and then the rest of Europe.

Whilst LoRaWan is comparatively standardized, unlicenced and straightforward, building a 5G network is a more complex endeavor. Local regulations are on a different level, spectrum access is restricted and the technical difficulty is higher. If the Helium ecosystem can solve all of these challenges, the network could claim a large share of the mobile network 5G traffic alongside telecom companies.

The aim for this project is to accelerate the roadmap for Helium 5G deployment in Europe by identifying and tackling issues in four key areas: Regulatory, Spectrum access, Hardware and Software.

The fifth key area - Working out the Helium Network’s relationship with the MNO’s will not be part of the deliverable scope of this project but will rather be an ongoing discussion / exploration together with the Helium Foundation & Nova Labs on how to proceed.

We will approach the above mentioned areas by setting up Helium 5G pilots sites at two or more locations with real commercial potential in Sweden. Alternative options for site locations are Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany, depending on regulatory approval.

These pilot sites will eventually be fully operational Helium 5G hotspots, paving the way for a large-scale Helium 5G model in Europe by identifying, solving and publicly publishing all data and insights acquired over the entire span of the project.

Regulatory
Legislation and spectrum regulations in the EU & other European countries can differ significantly from country to country.
We will thoroughly map out the applicable regulations and methods required by the Swedish authority Post & Telestyrelsen (PTS) related to licensing and running a decentralized 5G network.
This map will then serve as a point of reference of what questions need to be resolved for anyone looking to do the same in other European countries.

Questions to be answered are:

• Who can apply?
• How do you apply?
• What is the cost?
• What spectrum is available?
• Are there any restrictions, legal or technical?

Another part of this key area is lobbying for government bodies to allocate spectrum for public use and promote ease of regulatory burden. Galiot is working on this front in Sweden by being a consultant to PTS in regards to proposed new legislation.

Read more here: PTS Call for Consultation on Local 5G Licenses [in Swedish]

Spectrum access
This is the more technical part of the groundwork where we aim to answer the questions of what type of hardware is needed for operating in European conditions.

Questions to be answered are:

• What frequencies are available?
• Are there signal strength or range limitations?
• Radiation safety regulations?
• How much bandwidth is needed?
• Potential sources of interference?
• Special area restrictions, e.g. close to airports?

Hardware
Here we aim to test a number of different antennas, pico-cells and Helium 5G mining gateways in close collaboration with any makers or manufacturers interested in field testing their equipment.

Questions to be answered are:

• How can we achieve ease of installation?
• Is connectivity good enough?
• Is throughput satisfactory?
• Is the range adequate for this installation?
• What issues may arise?
• What are the optimum locations to place the hardware?

Blockchain compatibility
This part is fairly straightforward. We want to ensure Helium 5G blockchain compatibility in the European environment by:

• Provide expert panel and technical advisory from a European viewpoint in future HIPs.
• Helping makers test their hardware.
• Beta test the Helium 5G blockchain with different hardware setups.

Project Phases

Milestone	Activities	Deliverables	Target date & Estimated Costs (USD)
Phase 1 Initial setup	Researching laws and regulations as well as hardware. Apply for licenses. Order and install hardware.	Spectrum license Test site approval Hardware installed Project website launched	June 30, 2022 $25,000 - $50,000
Phase 2 Blockchain testing	Have at least two test-sites fully equipped and working. Ensure blockchain integration and functionality on testnet. Run tests together with hardware suppliers, Nova Labs and Helium Foundation.	Two pilot sites fully approved and equipped Connected to testnet and running data packet forwarder Prove data transmission functionality with an actual use-case Publish detailed progress & learnings so far on project website	September 15, 2022 $50,000 - $100,000
Phase 3 Publicly published, open testing available	Create reasonable availability at one or more pilot sites for third party testing of Helium 5G connectivity (e.g. for testing Helium 5G IoT-devices, cellphone solutions). Advance conversations with key stakeholders such as regulators & telcos.	Make existing sites available for public testing & collaborators Fully detail all four key areas as well as publish outlines of current use-case collaborations Advance conversations with regulators & telcos Guide on how to connect, use and collaborate with us on test network published on project website	November 15, 2022 $50,000 - $100,000
Phase 4 Enable large scale Helium 5G deployments  across Europe	Commence major roll-out by completing all testing, increasing coverage and addressing launch requirements in multiple countries.	Have meaningful coverage in specific areas in Sweden and/or other European countries Data routing and mining is fully operational and functioning Project website is completed with a detailed roadmap for 10+ European countries.	EOY 2022 or early 2023 $75,000 - $150,000

Project Organization

The project scope and timelines outlined in this application is based on an average of two people working full time on this project from start to end. Marcus Zethraeus and Erik Lindstedt will take initial leadership and involve the broader team or bring in external experts as needed.

In outlining our milestones we have listed two different amounts for each stage. The lower amount is what we are applying for according to the organization above where on average two people work full-time on the project over the full duration.

The optional (higher cost) is for a scenario where we bring in more people from the start, acquire licenses and set up pilot sites at several locations, perhaps in several countries, at a higher pace. The reason for choosing the more expensive way would be to speed up the timeline with the goal of reaching P4 earlier, also giving the advantage of faster scale of the network.

Regarding the activities and deliverables we have kept it concise as we believe that many issues and challenges are hard to predict beforehand but will materialize as the project proceeds. The main point to keep in mind is the ultimate goal of the project which is to provide a clear and open roadmap for Helium 5G to go big in Europe.

Discussions are ongoing with the Helium Foundation, FreedomFi and Nebra as well as the Swedish authority for spectrum allocation, PTS. Five locations have been shortlisted as candidates for the first pilot sites and discussions with real estate owners are being held there as well. One of the most promising is a harbor in collaboration with a boating-company building a boat sharing service using IoT to automate their business. Another shortlist candidate is a high profile sustainability and tech focused office-hotel, making for good PR opportunities on both counts.

End goals

• Have Europe’s first Helium 5G-nodes fully operational and publicly available for testing.
• Publish a fully detailed roadmap on how to set up a Helium 5G-network in 10+ European countries.
• Get Europe ready for a permissionless or “permission-light” full scale Helium 5G roll out by removing blockers and building momentum.
• Get discussions underway with key stakeholders, such as regulators and MNOs, as well as build media interest in the Helium model.

Areas of interest that are outside the deliverable scope of this project

IoT and other use-cases: Galiot’s main goal will be to create the roadmap for rolling out 5G infrastructure in Europe through the use of the Helium model. While doing so we will do anything within reason to facilitate testing of 5G-IoT or any other use-cases applicable on our test networks and we will likely be running some tests ourselves but this will not be a core priority.

MNOs: At the later stages of this journey Galiot aims to find a model for cooperation or at minimum coexisting with local Telcos. Our intent is for this part to be backed by the Helium Foundation and Nova Labs. How, when and in what form these talks will take place will be an ongoing open discussion as the project progresses.

Proof of Coverage: Testing out Proof of Coverage-mechanisms is not within the scope of this project but we would be happy to assist in any way possible.

Cell-phone connectivity: The main value of 5G networks is mobile phone connectivity and we think that this is key to Helium 5G being a success. We will be experimenting ourselves and would like to extend an open invitation to anyone wanting to collaborate on building early models for this within a European context. This will be an important part of the project and we will publish any insights from the tests. However as it relies heavily on MNO-relationships we have decided to keep it outside of the deliverable scope.

[ClarissaDeWi]

Hello, @marcusze and the Galiot team! Great to see this proposal from you. Our team is looking it over and will respond by the end of next week.

[ClarissaDeWi]

@marcusze It looks like you still need to complete part 2 of the application. Please complete this simple form (https://forms.gle/a124xJmzeWesPeWj7) to streamline the contract process. This form is the final step in the submission process and a lack of this information will delay the contract.

[odurchris]

Wow

[mgolhan]

Hi, We are working on a disaster response project to be piloted in several European cities. We are interested in mesh communication and and would like to learn more about what we can do with Helium 5G. Who can we get in touch with?

Mehmet Golhan,
Lojika Field Labs

[ClarissaDeWi]

Hello @mgolhan 👋 Thanks so much for reaching out. If you'd like to chat with the team that proposed this project, feel free to reach out directly. If you're interested in a grant, please feel free to look at the process here: https://heliumfoundation.notion.site/The-Helium-Foundation-Grant-Program-18a0484cf8a1494bae9eb3497b77a3cf

[mgolhan]

Hi, How do I reach them?

[marcusze]

Hi Mehmet - we've connected over Linkedin and can take it from there to find a time to meet. /MZ