A few thoughts on World Mobile and its mission to connect the unconnected
The concepts behind blockchain technology have held great promise for many years. However, as with any complex technology, the gap between potential and realization is often greater than initially assumed. While Ethereum blazed a trail with smart contracts, and emerging third generation (or proof of stake) blockchains offered similar functionality without the rampant energy waste of mining, compelling applications in the world beyond those embedded in the field have been limited.
Enter as telecom company called World Mobile. It offers a refreshing and easily understandable value proposition while using advanced blockchain technology. It is leveraging crypto in two directions to provide service integrity to the network and fiscal incentives to collaborators. On the former, it is preparing virtual nodes to allow transactions to be processed anywhere in the world by third-parties acting as hosts. On the latter, it is preparing physical nodes to provide network connections while splitting revenue for third-parties hosting these devices.
Put another way, World Mobile is using the distributed technology and immutable nature of blockchain to offload network processing costs or infrastructure protection, and doing so with a framework of utter clarity for collaborators.
When it comes to blockchains and this sort of data processing you need a unit of exchange. You can describe this in many ways depending on your use case. You might call it a currency. You might call it fuel for transactions. Whatever you call it, it is a unit for counting what happened and who gets value from it. World Mobile is using something called World Mobile Token (hereafter WMT) to do the counting for processing and rewards. This is running on top of a particular blockchain called Cardano, which is fascinating and worthy of further examination, but for now it is enough to say that Cardano is an efficient blockchain for this sort of activity.
World Mobile has just finished an initial distribution of WMT to their collaborator ecosystem. This distribution of tokens nominally valued at 0.20 USD per unit did a couple of things. Firstly, it raised 40 million USD for World Mobile’s mission to connect the unconnected, starting in Africa. Secondly, it supplied the medium of transaction necessary for third parties to launch virtual nodes to support that network. Finally, it provided a way for third parties who wish to passively invest to enter the ecosystem.
In the near future virtual nodes will begin operation across the internet. Each node host will have 100,000 WMT “staked” with their node as a signal of their investment (and therefore seriousness) in the ecosystem. These nodes will then be ready to begin validating transactions flowing through the World Mobile telecommunications network. They will get a small fee for each transaction they process.
Meanwhile the passive investors mentioned above will be able to “stake” with nodes as well. Their staking of WMT increases the virtual size of a node, and that increases the number of transactions it will be sent by the World Mobile network to process. That means more rewards for both the node host and the parties staking with the node. Of course, it also places an increasing responsibility on the node operator. This is by design. To attract more staking, which attracts more revenue, you need to be running a reliable, highly performant node. It is an elegant solution to network resiliency.
Meanwhile, in the physical world, World Mobile is busy in Tanzania and Zanzibar building actual network infrastructure. This connects villages and other parties who previously did not have cell coverage with the Internet. The primary market is exactly what you would expect with a teleco. They provide network services and people pay for network services. The secondary market builds on this by providing a digital identity based on the user network profile. It paves the way for access to a portfolio of services that would have been impossible previously. Banking and loans are the two most obvious and immediate examples, though any digital transaction between parties is within reach.
World Mobile has a milestone map stretching from the near to far term, ranging from connecting 100,000 people to 5G in Tanzania on the close horizon, through to making significant steps in closing the global digital divide by 2030. As a real business with real services doing real stuff in the real world, it offers a tantalizing insight into the realization of the promise of blockchain technology.
Check out the World Mobile story in their own words. Read their white paper to learn more about the overall approach with WMT. Read their staking deck to learn more about the specifics there. There is also a comprehensive deck on the whole concept here.
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Disclaimer: I am helping to advise World Mobile on issues related to strategy, supply chains and security. I like the mission and think it can make a real difference.
