Decentralized wireless enterprise Dabba has announced its second quarter of activity to expand its presence in India and solve the connectivity challenges faced by the country.
The plan aims to deploy more than 100,000 Dabba Lite devices by the end of the year, building on the success of the initial launch earlier this year, when 1,000 devices quickly sold out.
India, with a population of 1.43 billion, currently has low broadband penetration, with only 30 million people having access to WiFi and less than half of the population having access to any type of Internet. Dabba is on a mission to change this by providing fast and affordable internet to the people of India using its Decentralized Physical Network (DePIN).
The joint venture reports continued solid demand, with the 1,000 devices sold consuming 90-100 TB of paid data per month. This high demand reflects the potential success of the project, which is backed by the Solana project and traded using the Dabba token.
Dabba plans to leverage India’s vast network of local cable operators (LCOs) of over 150,000 operators to expand its reach. These LCOs typically have small user bases, but with Dabba’s intervention, there is still room for strong growth.
Arul Murugan, managing partner at Borderless Capital, said: “India is the largest market for decentralized wireless and WiFi networks…Dabba is strategically positioned to become the market leader in this space.”
The program invites hotspot owners to join the network by purchasing Dabba’s router hardware and selecting an LCO to deploy the device. Participants are rewarded with Dabba tokens based on data usage and commit to installing hotspots in areas with demand for paid WiFi connections.
The move comes as India’s data needs have doubled in the past five years, exposing that current infrastructure is not enough to meet the demand. Dabba’s model promises to provide more affordable broadband connectivity options, capitalizing on the country’s growing interest in cryptocurrencies. Between July 2022 and June 2023, India ranked second in cryptocurrency trading volume after the United States, with nearly $250 billion.
Shayon Sengupta of Multicoin Capital commented: “Dabba’s strategic alliance with a local cable operator (LCO) marks a key shift in India’s internet landscape…positioning Dabba as a key player in India’s quest to universalize internet access.”
Backed by prominent investors including Multicoin Capital, Y Combinator and Borderless Capital, Dabba has previously contributed to the expansion of Google’s public WiFi and FSOC initiatives in India.