Dabba expands decentralized internet in India with +100K new devices
Decentralized wireless venture Dabba announced its Season 2 campaign to scale its operations across India and tackle the connectivity challenges faced by the country.
The initiative aims to deploy over 100,000 of its Dabba Lite devices by year-end, building on the success of its initial launch earlier this year, where 1,000 devices sold out rapidly.
India, with its 1.43 billion population, currently has a low broadband penetration rate, with only 30 million having access to WiFi and less than half the population enjoying internet access of any kind. Dabba’s mission is to change this landscape by using its decentralized physical network (DePIN) to deliver fast and affordable internet to the Indian populace.
The venture has reported a consistent demand, with 90-100 TB of paid data being consumed monthly across the 1,000 devices already sold. This high demand reflects the potential success of the project, which is backed by the Solana project and uses the Dabba token for transactions.
Dabba plans to leverage the vast network of Local Cable Operators (LCOs) in India, which consists of over 150,000 operators, to expand its reach. These LCOs typically have a modest subscriber base, but with Dabba’s intervention, there’s room for strong growth.
“India represents the largest market for decentralized wireless and WiFi networks… Dabba is strategically positioned to become a market leader within this space,” said Arul Murugan, Managing Partner at Borderless Capital.
The project invites hotspot owners to join the network by purchasing Dabba’s router hardware and selecting an LCO to deploy the device. Participants can earn Dabba token rewards based on data usage, with a commitment to install hotspots in areas showing a demand for paid WiFi connectivity.
This initiative comes at a time when India’s data demand has doubled over the past five years, revealing the inadequacy of the current infrastructure to meet this need. Dabba’s model promises to offer a more affordable broadband connectivity option, tapping into the country’s growing interest in cryptocurrencies. India ranked second only to the United States in crypto transactions value between July 2022 and June 2023, with nearly $250 billion.
“Dabba’s strategic alliance with Local Cable Operators (LCOs) marks a pivotal shift in India’s internet landscape… positioning Dabba as a key player in India’s quest for universal internet access,” commented Shayon Sengupta of Multicoin Capital.
Supported by notable investors like Multicoin Capital, Y Combinator, and Borderless Capital, Dabba has previously contributed to expanding Google’s public WiFi and FSOC initiatives in India.
