Web3 Reshaping the Telecom Industry: Exploring How Blockchain Changes Communication Networks with Roam as an Example

In the global wave of digitalization, the traditional telecommunications industry is facing unprecedented challenges. The implementation of 5G technology has brought enormous investment pressure on operators, but the revenue model has not improved, and value-added services have not made breakthroughs, instead falling into fierce competition in the existing market.

Data shows that although leading telecommunications companies in the United States have higher revenues than internet giants, their profitability and market value are far lower than the latter. This reflects investors' lack of confidence in the telecommunications industry's heavy asset model and growth potential.

The telecommunications industry has been exploring paths for transformation. Past attempts, such as those by virtual operators, have not fundamentally solved the problems. Today, Blockchain and Web3 technologies bring new opportunities to the industry, with the potential to reconstruct communication networks through decentralized models, upgrading them to value exchange networks.

This article will discuss how blockchain and Web3 operating models can provide solutions for the telecom industry based on its current status. We will take the decentralized telecom operator Roam as an example to analyze in depth how blockchain technology can reshape communication networks, upgrade them to value exchange networks, and the potential impacts of this transformation.

Challenges Faced by Traditional Telecom Operators

The business model of traditional telecom operators is centered around communication infrastructure, achieving profitability by providing connectivity services, value-added services, and industry digitalization solutions. Its core logic can be summarized as a three-layer architecture of "connection + ecosystem + service."

Basic communication services remain the main source of revenue, including mobile data, home broadband, etc. However, traditional voice and SMS services have significantly shrunk due to the replacement by OTT applications. Operators enhance user stickiness through bundled sales, while vigorously developing value-added services such as cloud services and the Internet of Things as growth engines.

In terms of costs, operators face dual pressure from heavy asset investment and refined operations. The construction of 5G base stations and spectrum auctions have driven up capital expenditures. To reduce costs, the industry commonly adopts measures such as co-construction and sharing, and AI energy-saving. However, in the existing market, the competition for users keeps costs high, forcing operators to shift towards digital direct sales.

The main challenges in the industry come from technological iteration and cross-border competition. Traditional businesses continue to decline, the investment return cycle for 5G is long, and there is still the need to deal with the impact of emerging competitors such as satellite broadband and cloud vendors.

The transformation of operators focuses on technological upgrades and ecological reconstruction. On the technological level, network slicing and edge computing have become key. In terms of ecological construction, operators are transforming from "traffic pipelines" to "digital service engines." The ESG strategy has also become a means of differentiated competition.

The Dilemma of Competition in the Stock Market and Exploration Abroad

The telecommunications industry has entered a stage of competition in the existing market, with several major operators fiercely competing in a limited market while also deepening their presence in their respective niche markets. This is not only a dilemma for the telecommunications industry but also reflects the current state of the overall market economy.

Faced with the saturation of the domestic market, going overseas has become the choice for many enterprises. However, for telecom operators, international expansion is not an easy task. The telecommunications industry is a sensitive area in various countries, and cross-border operations face numerous obstacles:

1. Market Access Restrictions: Most countries impose limits on foreign shareholding ratios and require localized operations.

2. Different spectrum allocation rules: The 5G frequency bands vary by country, increasing the cost of cross-border deployment;

3. Data localization requirements: Regulations such as the EU GDPR restrict cross-border data flows;

4. Local monopoly pattern: Most countries are dominated by 2-3 local operators in the market;

5. Price Wars and Subsidy Culture: Emerging markets rely on low-priced packages and mobile subsidies, squeezing profit margins.

In response to these challenges, operators have adopted different strategies, such as equity investment, joint ventures, and virtual operations. However, these methods still struggle to completely overcome regional limitations and cannot fundamentally resolve the fierce competition in limited markets.

Therefore, the internationalization of telecommunications operators presents the characteristics of "global capability, local delivery": building a global backbone network at the core network layer, but complying with the data sovereignty rules of each country; responding to the "technological camp" of 6G R&D at the technical standards level; and being highly localized at the service application layer, relying on joint venture partners or local teams for operation.

The Potential of Web3 to Restructure the Telecommunications Industry

Clearly, limited globalization and surviving in a niche market is not an ideal choice. We can reconstruct the telecommunications industry through blockchain technology and Web3 operational models. This is not just a simple "Blockchain +", but rather an upgrade of the communication network to a fundamental value exchange layer through globalization, token economy, distributed governance, and open protocols, to support the future digital civilization.

At the infrastructure level, physical network resources are distributed and shared through tokenization. The Roam model validates the feasibility of users contributing Wi-Fi hotspots to earn token incentives, challenging the traditional operator base station monopoly model. The DAO governance of spectrum resources can improve utilization and create shared profits. The decentralized identity (DID) solution allows users to take control of their SIM card data, reducing privacy risks.

The automation of cross-border services and settlement has become another breakthrough. Blockchain-based international roaming settlement significantly shortens the settlement cycle and reduces costs. The DeFi model is introduced into the pricing system, allowing users to obtain communication discounts through staking. In the field of the Internet of Things, the combination of blockchain and edge computing has given rise to autonomous networks for devices, achieving low-latency communication.

In addition, communication and finance achieve deep integration: users can earn profits by sharing resources such as bandwidth and data, forming a "consumption-production" closed loop; DeFi mechanisms give rise to innovative services such as communication insurance and cross-chain roaming, with on-chain smart contracts automatically executing cross-border settlements.

Roam: A Case Study of a Decentralized Telecommunications Operator in Web3

Roam is committed to building a global open wireless network that ensures humans and smart devices can achieve free, seamless, and secure network connections in any state. Unlike the geographical limitations of traditional operators, Roam leverages the globalization advantages of Blockchain to build a decentralized communication network based on the OpenRoaming™ Wi-Fi framework, and by integrating eSIM services, has created a globally open and free wireless network.

In just over two years, Roam has over 1.7 million nodes in 190 countries worldwide, with more than 2.3 million users, conducting 500,000 network verification activities daily, making it the largest decentralized wireless network globally. Roam users can also earn free eSIM data when building and verifying Wi-Fi nodes, allowing Roam to operate as a telecom service provider using an internet model.

Roam collaborates with the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) to integrate traditional OpenRoaming™ technology and Web3's DID+VC technology to build a decentralized communication network. This not only reduces the global network construction costs but also achieves seamless login and end-to-end encryption similar to cellular networks, significantly enhancing user experience and connection stability.

Roam encourages users to participate in network co-construction through the App, sharing Wi-Fi nodes or upgrading to OpenRoaming™ Wi-Fi. Users can seamlessly connect between four million OpenRoaming™ hotspots worldwide, even finding Roam nodes in remote areas. At the same time, Roam's eSIM covers more than 160 countries globally, providing users with flexible and efficient network connectivity solutions.

Through global free access via Wi-Fi + eSIM and a diversified incentive mechanism, Roam has promoted the rapid development of decentralized networks. Users can earn global data traffic or Roam points tokens by checking in, inviting friends, or interacting on social media, creating a continuous and stable revenue stream.

Communication-based Value Exchange Network

The transformation of the Blockchain communication network not only reconstructs business models but also upgrades the communication network into a value exchange network, transitioning from "information delivery" to a triadic network of "information + value + trust," becoming the foundation of the next generation digital society that integrates value transmission, data certification, and trust collaboration.

Information transmission efficiency: Deconstructing the barriers of space-time value transmission

The evolution of communication technology has profoundly restructured the financial payment system. From telegraphs to Blockchain payments, communication technology has continuously driven revolutionary changes in the payment sector by enhancing information transmission efficiency, expanding connection boundaries, and reconstructing trust mechanisms. Blockchain employs a P2P communication network to build a value transfer channel without intermediaries, increasing efficiency by hundreds of times. The communication network based on Blockchain Web3 can also achieve a significant improvement in value exchange efficiency.

Connecting Boundary Expansion: Building Inclusive Financial Neural Endpoints

Mobile communication technology extends payment nodes to every corner of the physical world. The global network built on Roam can provide bank-level financial services on the Blockchain for all connected individuals, including 1.4 billion people who cannot access banking services, achieving true financial inclusion and equality.

IoT communication technology is creating new payment scenarios, such as automatic meter reading and charging for smart electricity meters, and unmanned payment for vending machines. The ultra-low latency and massive connectivity capabilities of 5G networks support more innovative applications. With the explosion of AI Agents, the interactions between AIs or between AIs and humans also require communication networks and the value transfer on them.

( Trust Mechanism Reconstruction: InTrustlessWeTrust

The Bitcoin white paper depicts a world without trusted intermediaries, where cryptography and code provide a trustless foundation. However, when the idealistic crypto world intersects with the real world, how to build trust mechanisms on the Blockchain network becomes a key issue.

The "on-chain bank" based on blockchain technology and Web3 can already realize various functions of banking services in developed countries, such as savings, investment management, transfer, and payment. These banking-level services can be used simply by being online and can serve as further derivatives of the Roam project. With the restructuring of mechanisms, more financial services based on blockchain communication networks will be built, which may give rise to new forms such as "global instant settlement network" and "AI autonomous financial entity" in the future.

![Taking Roam as an example, explaining how Blockchain reconstructs the traditional telecommunications industry])https://img-cdn.gateio.im/webp-social/moments-ea066c9b250ff7fb9f1475deb12b261e.webp###

Conclusion

The telecommunications industry is undergoing profound changes. In the future, a hybrid model of "centralized facilities + decentralized services" may emerge: one type of basic communication operator will continue to act as a "pipeline worker," controlling physical layer resources but opening network capabilities through APIs; another type of service operator, such as Roam, will reconstruct itself as the global value routing hub based on communication networks and Blockchain technology, using open protocols. Users also need to shift from being "passive consumers" to "ecological co-builders," driving the development of the entire Web3 communication ecosystem.

The ideal state of Network State needs to be built on communication networks. Web3 decentralized telecom operators like Roam are expected to become the underlying infrastructure of future digital ideal states.