- Authors: Andy Zyvoloski, Keith Rettig, Max Gold
- Start Date: 6/14/2023
- Category: Technical & Economic
- Original HIP PR: #701
- Tracking Issue: #714
- Voting Requirements: veMOBILE
This HIP requests that Helium Foundation correct the MOBILE Onboarding Fee from 0 USD to 40 USD and the MOBILE Location Assert Fee from 0 USD to 10 USD as soon as possible so that the fees are in compliance with HIP-53 and HIP-19.
MOBILE Hotspots - All currently onboarded MOBILE Hotspot owners.
Approved MOBILE Hotspot Makers - The sub-group of Approved Hotspot Makers that manufacture omni-protocol Hotspots that utilize the MOBILE Network and the IOT Network.
Current MOBILE Hotspots, such as the FreedomFi Gateway and the Bobcat 500, are both omni-protocol Hotspots; that is, they contain both IOT and MOBILE network capabilities. HIP-53 ('Economics Overview' section) dictates that all Hotspots must pay an Onboarding Fee of 40 USD and a Location Assert Fee of 10 USD. Helium Maker Ethics Documentation Section 9 indicates that Approved Hotspot Makers are responsible for funding the onboarding server for their Hotspots. HIP-19 ('Issuing Keys & Paying Staking Fees' section) requires manufacturers to acquire codes to validate, onboard a Hotspot, and pay the 40 USD Staking Fee, also referred to as the Onboarding Fee.
At the time of onboarding these Hotspots, there was no MOBILE subDAO which to designate the MOBILE subDAO's 40 USD Onboarding Fee. As such, all MOBILE Hotspots were only onboarded to the IOT network with its associated Onboarding Fee of 40 USD and Location Assert Fee of 10 USD. At the time of the Solana migration in April of 2023, these Hotspots continued to be onboarded to the MOBILE network with an Onboarding Fee of 0 USD instead of 40 USD and Location Assert Fee of 0 USD instead of 10 USD, as the migration kept feature parity with the old chain. The discrepancy continues to this day. As a result, 0 USD in Onboarding Fees have been burned towards the MOBILE subDAO's
Unfortunately, the framework for the MOBILE subDAO was established after the passage of HIP-51; and as such, there was no MOBILE subDAO to apply the paid Onboarding Fees for MOBILE Hotspots. Until the MOBILE subDAO framework was created, the Onboarding Fees for omni-protocol Hotspots were applied to the IOT subDAO only. The correct action at the time of migration in April of 2023 would have been to set the MOBILE Onboarding Fee to the required 40 USD and the Location Assert Onboarding Fee to the required 10 USD, pay the onboarding server for all Hotspots to be onboarded, and burn the Onboarding Fee for each Hotspot as required by HIP-51 and HIP-19.
HIPs 51 through 53 provide for the Onboarding Server to be correctly paid with 100 USD worth of Data Credits for each Hotspot by the Approved Hotspot Makers such that it can pay for the IOT subDAO Onboarding Fee of 40 USD, the IOT subDAO Location Assert Fee of 10 USD, the MOBILE subDAO Onboarding Fee of 40 USD, and the MOBILE subDAO Location Assert Fee of 10 USD. Given that there is no Location Assert operation in the MOBILE subDAO, what to do with the excess funding (10 USD per Hotspot) presumed to be paid into each manufacturer's Maker Account for Location Asserts is outside of the scope of this HIP.
The correction is reportedly easy. As such, Helium Foundation has agreed to modify the Helium multisig for the MOBILE Onboarding Fee from 0 USD to 40 USD and the MOBILE subDAO Location Assert Fee from 0 USD to 10 USD upon passing of the HIP. The expected workload is to on the order of minutes and, therefore, should be able to be completed within the day.
The biggest potential drawback applies if HIP-88 is passed. If the DAO Utility Score is modified to redefine the
Another drawback is that since there are no Location Assert requirements for the MOBILE subDAO, there is no use to paying the Onboarding Server for any MOBILE subDAO Location Asserts as specified in HIP-51. A separate HIP should be created to set the MOBILE subDAO Location Assert Fee to 0 USD, no longer require the MOBILE subDAO Location Assert Fee to be funded into the maker account, and propose to allow any MOBILE subDAO Location Assert funds in the Maker's Accounts to be utilized for paying for MOBILE subDAO Onboarding Fees.
One alternative is to change the way the
This HIP is successful when the MOBILE Onboarding Fee is changed from 0 USD to 40 USD and the MOBILE Location Assert Fee from 0 USD to 10 USD. Once completed, all multi-protocol MOBILE Hotspots will automatically be onboarded to the MOBILE subDAO and the IOT subDAO and their required fees for both subDAOs are paid via the onboarding server.