Helium – the world’s fastest-growing decentralised wireless network for internet of things devices – has formed a strategic partnership with Canadian LoraWan provider X-TELIA in a move set to unlock coverage across the country and even worldwide. More about Helium blockchain and roaming solutions can be found out below.

X-TELIA’s Internet of things (IoT) network will be connected with the Helium blockchain to increase roaming coverage.

This move marks a real focus on solidifying a presence across the North American continent for Helium – part of a strategy aiming to position the network to help deliver an anticipated three-fold increase in IoT devices by 2030.

Helium has already made huge inroads, with the decentralised grassroots roll-out arguably one of the fastest infrastructure expansions in history. In just two years, the network has expanded to more than 513,000 Helium-compatible hotspots across almost 40,000 cities.

This is only possible due to the incentivised hotspot model which sees everyday users ‘mine’ the network-native HNT token by providing localised coverage (effectively line of sight level).

X-TELIA brings a lot to the table helium roaming

Eric Bourbeau, co-founder and CEO of X-TELIA, explained how the partnership would be symbiotic between the two companies.

“At X-TELIA, we understand the power of IoT technology in achieving new levels of insight and efficiency and have made it our mission to make it accessible to industries, businesses and cities across Canada,” said the CEO.

“By leveraging the power of the Helium Network we are now able to provide our clients with a global network, allowing our fleet and asset tracking customers to track their assets internationally.”

The model will not suit every IoT deployment. Companies that need guaranteed indoor coverage, tightly controlled service-level agreements or predictable performance in remote industrial locations may still be more comfortable with a conventional operator-managed LoRaWAN network. Helium’s coverage can be impressively broad, but its quality depends on where hotspots have actually been installed, not simply on how many appear on a global map.

That is also the main area where the Helium blockchain proposition could mature. The network has expanded at remarkable speed, yet raw hotspot numbers do not always translate into consistently usable coverage. Better visibility into hotspot reliability, data-transfer success and real-world coverage density would make it easier for enterprise customers to judge whether a particular city, transport route or warehouse district is genuinely ready for deployment.

Alternatives include private LoRaWAN installations, established national IoT networks and cellular options such as NB-IoT or LTE-M. They are often more expensive or slower to deploy, but may provide stronger contractual guarantees. Helium becomes particularly interesting when devices move between regions, when building a private network would be difficult to justify, or when an existing provider such as X-TELIA can combine its own infrastructure with the wider reach enabled by the Helium blockchain.