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While telecom giants spend years licensing new towers, ordinary people are already building faster, cheaper internet. The contrast is stark: Installing a single small cell tower can cost up to $300,000, while a complete macro tower runs into the millions. With decentralized physical infrastructure networks – also called DePIN for short – the cost of adding a new connectivity point is effectively zero, because it uses software to enable Wi-Fi routers that people already own.
Summary
- DePIN flips the economics of telecommunications: instead of million-dollar towers, connectivity is added by activating existing routers, reducing CAPEX, and closing last-mile gaps at near-zero marginal cost.
- The model is already working at scale: with more than 13 million active devices and rapid daily growth, decentralized networks are proving faster and less expensive in telecommunications, data, storage and computing.
- It’s a win for users and operators: better local coverage for users, flexible OpEx for telecom operators and an economically viable service in regions ignored by traditional infrastructure.
This technology is already widely used, with more than 13 million devices operational on DePIN networks. DePIN does for connectivity what ride-sharing apps, like Uber, did for transportation. It transforms millions of underutilized individual assets into a powerful, coordinated network. For the end user, the experience is completely transparent.
Good connectivity should be like electricity; you flip a switch, and it’s there. This invisibility is the true sign of mass adoption and finally addresses the digital divide created by the high costs and slowness of the old model.
The problem of traditional infrastructures
Telecom companies are under immense financial pressure, with capital expenditure-to-revenue ratios hovering between 17 and 20 percent. At peak 5G investment, global mobile operators’ CAPEX was expected to reach $1.5 trillion. This created a cycle of massive investments for additional gains, leaving many operators among the most indebted companies in the world.
What I learned is that this financial burden is compounded by logistical obstacles. Tower deployment takes years, bogged down by permits, site leases and complex integrations. The world moves at the speed of software, but physical infrastructure remains stuck at a real-world speed. This creates a chronic gap between demand and supply of connectivity.
Due to high costs, operators logically focus on profitable areas, often ignoring sparsely populated or low-income regions where return on investment is slow or non-existent. The direct result is a growing digital divide, with around 38% of the global population in mobile coverage areas remaining unconnected due to a usage gap.
DePIN offers a hybrid, collaborative model to solve this problem: telcos provide the primary backbone and a distributed network of existing routers fills in the last mile gaps.
The decentralized model works: faster and cheaper coverage
At its core, the decentralized model is a cooperative network. Your phone simply finds the shortest, fastest path to the Internet, whether through a nearby cell tower or series of routers.
The economics are just as simple. Every router owner can become a mini-provider, automatically earning rewards when their device helps route traffic to the network. The barrier to entry is close to zero. Participation is often simply a light software or firmware update, not a request to purchase expensive new hardware.
Financially, the model is cheaper because it cuts out the middleman and shifts rigid capital expenditures to flexible operating expenses. Telecom companies and businesses pay for the actual connectivity provided, not the huge upfront cost of construction. This structure also makes it economically viable for individuals to cover white areas that traditional operators consider unprofitable.
The proof is in the numbers
For DePIN, I see a real evolution on the ground: once a wireless network exceeds 5 million registered routers and adds another 25,000 per day, the question stops being “does it work?” The real discussion becomes “how to integrate it well and how to maintain high quality of service?” »
The model is also proving successful in sectors other than telecommunications. In the transportation sector, DIMO has connected more than 425,000 vehicles to its owner-authorized data network, transforming drivers into data providers. In AI, io.net brings together underutilized GPUs from around the world into a global computing marketplace for developers. And when it comes to data storage, Filecoin pioneered a decentralized marketplace that uses cryptographic proofs to verify that data is properly stored over time.
This substantial growth is happening for a reason. These plans build on a massive economic shift, with the DePIN market expected to become a $3.5 trillion industry by 2028.
A victory for users, telecoms and cities
In my experience, the beauty of this collaborative model is that it creates a win for everyone involved. Users get what they’ve always wanted: reliable connectivity in the places they live and work, such as apartment buildings, offices and underground areas.
Operators gain a strategic partner. DePIN helps fill gaps quickly and inexpensively and is a flexible way to manage peak hour traffic without overloading their own networks. In a case study with a Fortune 500 company, this model led to a 23% increase in customers and an 82% increase in data transactions.
In my opinion, DePIN has evolved far beyond just an experiment. The most effective way to understand the power of this model is to test it. To begin, identify a significant dead zone in your network coverage. After that, launch a pilot program with a DePIN partner focused on this area alone. As a final step, measure the cost, speed of deployment and quality of service. The results will speak for themselves.
