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The Helium Foundation has formalized new obligations and accountability measures for manufacturers in the ecosystem.
This week, the Helium Foundation is announcing changes to the list of approved Makers on the Helium Network website. These changes are the result of new commercial agreements signed by existing IOT Makers, at the request of the Foundation, to improve performance and accountability on the supply side of the IOT ecosystem. Thanks to the community and all responsive Makers for their support to ensure a healthy market of IOT Hotspot vendors.
Please visit Helium.com/mine for the up to date list of approved IOT Makers.
The framework for a decentralized and open market for IOT Makers was outlined in HIP-19 and overseen by the Manufacturing Compliance Committee (MCC) for roughly two years. During that period, Maker accountability was primarily driven by market forces along with a public ethics agreement. Over time, the MCC was unable to adequately enforce appropriate Maker behavior due to a lack of tools and resources. The Helium Foundation stepped in to manage Maker relationships in late 2023, removing half a dozen Makers from the Network website due to a lack of responsiveness to requests. The Foundation presented a new commercial agreement to IOT Makers in Q1 this year with a deadline of April 30th to comply. Over a dozen Makers have accepted the new agreement, signaling their ongoing commitment to decentralized wireless and the mission of the Helium Network.
Maker Obligations
Under the terms of the agreement, Makers will fulfill a series of obligations including:
- Maintain Hotspot Firmware including all appropriate LoRaWAN specifications, and communicate excessive delays of a public gateway-RS release.
- Maintain a sufficient Onboarding Credit balance.
- Respond to Foundation requests in a reasonable timeframe.
- Be responsive to customers within commercially appropriate timelines.
- Maintain public communications with respect to product and service support or changes.
- That the Maker will not manipulate or “game” any Network incentives themselves, nor will the Maker permit or facilitate such activity.
- That the Maker will not allow any ‘dual-mining’ that may degrade wireless connectivity or service.
Defining an “Approved Maker” for the IOT Network
“Approved Maker” denotes that the Maker has completed some form of identity and business verification with the Helium Foundation, hardware security elements have been audited, and that the hardware is compatible with the Helium Network. “Approved Makers” have received a passing vote by representatives of the Helium community and the Maker has entered into a legally binding commercial agreement with the Helium Foundation.
Helium Foundation’s Role
The Foundation takes its role as Network steward seriously and works to ensure a healthy ecosystem of commercial participants. Over the long-term, a fair and open Network should be as permissionless as possible, however the realities of decentralization come with trade-offs. Bearing this in mind, the Foundation will continue to hold Makers accountable to the integrity which the Helium community deserves, until more processes can efficiently move on-chain.
Given that the Helium Network is decentralized in nature, there is some element for buyers to do their own research. The Foundation will respond to aggregate issues by alerting Makers to community feedback, but has no responsibility for managing individual support matters. If community managers and Foundation employees are alerted to enough issues with a given Maker, that Maker will be prompted to acknowledge those issues in their public communications or in the Helium Network Discord server as appropriate. Failure by a Maker to acknowledge issues may result in removal from the ecosystem.
Offboarding Makers
The following organizations have not signed the new Maker agreement with the Helium Foundation. Given that there is no guarantee to the community that the Maker’s obligations will be fulfilled, the Foundation cannot, in good conscience, allow these organizations to maintain “Approved Maker” status. Each of these Makers have been removed from the Helium Network website and will no longer have access to the onboarding server. Please note that Hotspots already sold can still be added to the Network, whether through a Maker’s existing Data Credit balance or through user-funded onboarding. Please reach out to the respective Maker support channels for any questions related to their operations.
CalChip: support@calchipconnect.com
FXTec/Linxdot: hello@linxdot.com
Nebra: support@nebra.com
Option: https://www.option.com/contact/
Ugwan: info@ugwan.io
Donation for Community Services
A related note to the IOT Maker Ecosystem: The Helium Foundation is donating data credits to the onboarding server in recognition of Nebra’s contribution of community firmware. The donation, which acknowledges Nebra’s efforts to support customers of previously offboarded Makers, will directly benefit users by enabling them to onboard Nebra devices. The donated funds have been paid directly to Nebra’s on-chain Maker account to support a longstanding shortfall in onboarding credits. No funds will pass through Nebra and at no point will Nebra directly benefit from this donation. The donation will exclusively benefit the community
IOT Onward!
Looking ahead, the Helium Foundation team is excited about the ongoing collaboration with the community’s long-term aligned partners. Over a dozen Makers have signed their commitment to serving their customers in the Helium community. Two Makers stepped up and joined the Helium Foundation membership program; special thanks to both RAK Wireless and Seeed Studio for their dedication to the Helium community. Both organizations have partnered with the Foundation on 2024 events to tell the story of the Network, showcase products, and educate the public about the benefits of decentralized wireless.
For questions about the IOT Maker ecosystem and the latest changes, please reach out to hello@helium.foundation.
Approved Makers are listed on helium.com/mine.
