如果沒有高昂的轉換成本，電信看起來很容易受到 DeWi 的影響

此前，高昂的轉換成本和長期合約使電信公司無法與之競爭。 EV3 的 Mahesh Ramakrishnan 表示，當今市場結構的關鍵變化使得挑戰者能夠透過獨特的眾包供應來挑戰他們。

High switching costs and long-term contracts have made it nearly impossible for any company to compete with big telecoms. But key changes in the market structure are allowing challengers to enter the fray with unique crowdsourced supply.

高昂的轉換成本和長期合約使得任何公司幾乎不可能與大型電信公司競爭。但市場結構的關鍵變化使得挑戰者能夠透過獨特的眾包供應進入競爭。

As big telcos grapple with a debt burden that has been supercharged by COVID, the prospect of at-scale 5G this decade is becoming more of a meme than an inevitability. While it’s likely a shock to customers who already see a 5G icon on their phones and assume they have full service, the 5G buildout is in its nascency.

隨著大型電信公司努力應對因新冠疫情而加重的債務負擔，本十年大規模 5G 的前景正變得更像是一種迷因，而非必然。雖然對於已經在手機上看到 5G 圖示並認為自己擁有全套服務的客戶來說，這可能會感到震驚，但 5G 建設仍處於起步階段。

This op-ed is part of CoinDesk's new DePIN Vertical, covering the emerging industry of decentralized physical infrastructure.

這篇專欄文章是 CoinDesk 新的 DePIN Vertical 的一部分，涵蓋了去中心化實體基礎設施的新興產業。

It will take another $250 billion-plus for telcos to build 5G themselves, a prospect that is causing little excitement in corporate boardrooms given the dearth of use cases today that require it. As a result, mobile network infrastructure providers are suffering. Ericsson shocked financial analysts this past quarter when it reported sales down almost 20% from the year before. The capital intensity and coordination complexity of building a telecom network just isn’t worth the effort to a centralized company.

電信公司還需要花費超過 2500 億美元來自行建設 5G，鑑於目前需要 5G 的用例的缺乏，這一前景並沒有引起企業董事會的興奮。結果，行動網路基礎設施供應商陷入困境。愛立信上個季度的銷售額比去年同期下降了近 20%，令財務分析師感到震驚。建立電信網路的資本密集度和協調複雜性對於中心化公司來說是不值得的。

But the rate of technological progress isn’t slowing down: Skyrocketing demands for cloud compute will require an exponentially increasing supply of bandwidth. Where will this step function improvement come from?

但技術進步的速度並沒有放緩：雲端運算需求的飆升將需要指數級增長的頻寬供應。這一步的功能提升從何而來？

Decentralized Wireless (DeWi) networks offer an efficient way of bridging the two outcomes by outsourcing the work required to build 5G networks. The secret ingredient in DeWi is community-driven collaboration: Any person can deploy a device that provides others with bandwidth and be sure they will be paid for the service provision. By incentivizing people to monetize their internet connections, DeWi networks turn their communities into their supply chain.

分散式無線 (DeWi) ​​網路透過外包來建立 5G 網路所需的工作，提供了一種有效的方式來連接這兩種結果。 DeWi 的秘訣是社群驅動的協作：任何人都可以部署為其他人提供頻寬的設備，並確保他們會因提供服務而獲得報酬。透過激勵人們將網路連結貨幣化，DeWi 網路將他們的社區轉變為供應鏈。

Key to DeWi’s success is the commoditization of telecom hardware: While complex towers and boxes used to do the heavy lifting, now software does all the work. Wi-Fi offload has emerged as a key component supercharging 5G, as the majority of mobile use occurs indoors.

DeWi 成功的關鍵是電信硬體的商品化：過去複雜的塔樓和盒子負責繁重的工作，但現在軟體可以完成所有工作。由於大多數行動使用都發生在室內，Wi-Fi 卸載已成為 5G 增壓的關鍵組件。

While still nascent, this model of building telecom networks has seen promising developments. DePIN networks like Helium have created meaningful supply side footprints, supporting thousands of hotspots. By combining their footprint of hotspots with T-Mobile’s nationwide cellular network, Helium launched Helium Mobile to sell cheap phone plans directly to customers. The experiment is still early, with ~100,000 subscribers and 10,000 suppliers on the network, and many are skeptical it may ever work as free phones and two-year exclusive contracts present meaningful switching costs.

雖然這種電信網路建設模式仍處於萌芽階段，但已經取得了有希望的發展。 Helium 等 DePIN 網路已經創造了有意義的供應方足跡，支援數千個熱點。透過將其熱點覆蓋範圍與 T-Mobile 的全國蜂窩網路相結合，Helium 推出了 Helium Mobile，直接向客戶銷售廉價電話套餐。該實驗還處於早期階段，網路上約有 10 萬名用戶和 10,000 家供應商，許多人懷疑它能否發揮作用，因為免費電話和兩年獨家合約會帶來相當大的轉換成本。

While demand has proved far slower to emerge than investors expected, the skeptical view ignores a changing context that is rapidly reducing the barriers to entry.

儘管事實證明需求的出現速度遠遠慢於投資者的預期，但懷疑的觀點忽略了正在迅速降低進入障礙的不斷變化的環境。

For decades, big telecom companies have kept customers locked into long-term contracts and made it difficult to switch providers. But that's changing. The physical SIM card, once a key part of this strategy, is becoming obsolete. Apple’s new iPhone 14 supports multiple eSIMs, which are digital versions of SIM cards, meaning one can now switch carriers with a few taps on the phone instead of visiting a store.

幾十年來，大型電信公司一直將客戶鎖定在長期合約中，使得更換業者變得困難。但這種情況正在改變。實體 SIM 卡曾經是這項策略的關鍵部分，但現在已經過時了。蘋果的新 iPhone 14 支援多個 eSIM，這是 SIM 卡的數位版本，這意味著人們現在只需在手機上輕按幾下即可切換運營商，而無需前往商店。

This shift drastically reduces switching costs and levels the playing field, allowing smaller companies to compete with the telecom giants. What used to take days to switch providers now only takes minutes. This challenge has been reinforced by regulators, who aim to limit the ability of telcos to lock customers into exclusive contracts.

這種轉變極大地降低了轉換成本並創造了公平的競爭環境，使小公司能夠與電信巨頭競爭。過去需要幾天時間才能更換提供者，現在只需幾分鐘。監管機構加劇了這一挑戰，監管機構旨在限制電信公司將客戶鎖定在獨家合約中的能力。

The last vestige of the high switching cost model, customer lock-in, is under attack by the FCC today. The FCC Chair is advocating for a policy that would stop carriers from blocking phones from using other eSIMs after six months. This change means that after six months, anybody can switch carriers easily without any restrictions, regardless of the original terms and price promotions associated with the contract.

高轉換成本模式的最後殘餘——客戶鎖定——如今正受到美國聯邦通訊委員會(FCC)的攻擊。 FCC 主席正在倡導一項政策，阻止營運商在六個月後阻止手機使用其他 eSIM 卡。這項變更意味著六個月後，任何人都可以輕鬆地更換營運商，不受任何限制，無論與合約相關的原始條款和價格促銷如何。

This policy could shake up the telecom industry, ending the profitable strategy of bundling free phones with long-term contracts. As a result, the industry should expect intense price competition since carriers can no longer rely on package deals to keep customers and will have to compete on selling commoditized bandwidth.

這項政策可能會震動電信業，結束將免費電話與長期合約捆綁在一起的獲利策略。因此，該行業預計會出現激烈的價格競爭，因為營運商不能再依靠套餐交易來留住客戶，而必須在銷售商品化頻寬方面展開競爭。

Read more: Max Thake - DePIN: It's Time for Crypto to Get Real

閱讀更多：Max Thake - DePIN：是時候讓加密貨幣變得真實了

The battle for per-unit bandwidth is one that DeWi has an unfair advantage in: The community deployment model adopted by protocols like Helium will always cost less than the equivalent centralized incumbent, at any scale. The three biggest cost buckets suffered by incumbent carriers are: spectrum costs, capital expenditures on hardware, and tower maintenance fees.

在單位頻寬爭奪戰中，DeWi 具有不公平的優勢：無論規模如何，Helium 等協議採用的社區部署模型的成本始終低於同等的集中式現有部署模型。現有業者面臨的三大成本是：頻譜成本、硬體資本支出和塔維護費用。

The secret sauce of DeWi is outsourcing all three of these costs to people willing to host internet-providing routers themselves, obviating the need to spend money on real estate and towers. By paying them in tokens, DeWi networks allow community members to participate in the upside and incentivizes viral growth.

DeWi 的秘密武器是將所有這三個成本外包給願意自己託管提供互聯網的路由器的人，從而無需在房地產和塔上花錢。透過向他們支付代幣，DeWi 網路允許社群成員參與上漲並激勵病毒式成長。

While companies like Helium compete on telco turf of contracted

雖然像 Helium 這樣的公司在合約電信領域競爭