Helium Mobile is being acquired weeks after killing its free plan

Helium Mobile launched in 2023 with an ambitious plan to combine traditional cellular coverage with its hotspot-derived decentralized 5G Helium Network. How well they succeeded at their mission depends on who you ask, but it seems that the company is now taking a very new turn as far as its mobile ambitions are concerned.

Helium Mobile has announced it is being acquired by Noble Mobile, a newcomer to the cellular game that entered last year with an MVNO that promised to pay users rewards for using less data.

According to the company’s blog post, Noble Mobile is committed to using the decentralized Helium Network, so this aspect of its agenda won’t necessarily change for consumers. Likewise, you shouldn’t expect any major plan changes at least in the near-term.  It’s likely Noble will eventually adjust the rates as they transition, though. It’s also worth mentioning that those who were on Helium Zero already were asked to move on to another plan last month and have already started charging for what was originally a free plan.

The Helium team indicates plans to build an intelligent connectivity platform that takes “everything the Helium Network has demonstrated and opens it up so any carrier or connected service can build on it, including Noble Mobile.” In theory, this means you could see other MVNOs and even the big providers add Helium Network. The big caveat is whether or not there’s another real interest or not.