What is Nesten?
The telecommunications industry is entering a new era of 5G, and with it, ubiquitous connectivity and the massive business potential associated with the Internet of Things (IoT). It is also facing unprecedented financial and technical challenges to providing the widespread, low-cost coverage needed for the constant machine-to-machine communications required for the IoT. These obstacles have deep roots in the legacy infrastructure that still dominates telecommunications in most countries: Incumbent carriers continue to operate networks, because the high cost of establishing and maintaining these networks is a prohibitive barrier to entry. Unfortunately, these centralized network providers— and their cellular voice/data-centric systems—are poorly equipped to harness the power of IoT and deploy densely populated networks in a cost-effective manner. This barrier to entry has stifled growth and innovation—but now, the inception and refinement of blockchain technologies have finally opened the door to a solution.
Nesten represents a technology and business paradigm shift: We envision a communications infrastructure supported by the collective efforts of network participants, who are primarily the owners of Nesten gateways and devices. In support of this individually operated ecosystem, the Nesten system uses multi-tiered blockchains to operate its network and run its financial incentive system. The deployment process can be individually managed, not unlike setting up a WiFi router at home. The blockchains integrated in the system will ensure the network’s security as well as the integrity of financial processes. They will also accurately and securely maintain the operational history and the authentication records. Data requests will be handled reliably through the multi-tiered blockchains without human intervention. In short, the essence of the Nesten ecosystem is to use connection and coverage incentives to motivate individual owners to utilize their existing Internet connections to set up the gateways needed for the IoT.
We also believe the IoT industry requires an entirely new financial system to lend itself to a wide range of use cases. As the IoT data are generated and travel through the network, the system needs a highly efficient financial infrastructure that can handle micro-level transactions without overhead fees. For this reason, we are deploying New IoT Token (NIT), a new cryptocurrency to serve as a medium for transactions within the network. It is set to launch in the summer of 2019.
After more than 3 years of development, we started shipping in the beginning of 2019 and have deployed 200 gateways in five major metropolitan areas in the U.S. and overseas. By the end of 2019, thousands of gateways are expected to be in full operation across North and South America and Asia. The gateway is a high-performance computing platform combined with multiple wireless communications standards and high-precision GPS. It is designed to handle complex communications and blockchain protocols, as well as advanced machine learning to identify critical events. Using the hierarchical architecture of delegated Proof of Stake, the blockchain protocol is optimized for speed and scalability to accommodate the massive expected data growth.
Our platform will harness these technologies to produce not only the most secure and efficient IoT infrastructure available, but also high returns for Nesten equipment owners and NIT investors. The gateways will be strategically incentivized to motivate high availability and wider coverage. Device owners will also have opportunities to monetize their device investment by sending the wireless link quality measurements and geolocation data to the system. With the wireless quality measurements, the system will be able to map out and present a graphical view of wireless coverage with estimated signal quality at different locations. In addition, Nesten’s inclusion of Proof of Work in its consensus mechanism will not only provide further support to the incentive ecosystem, but also ensure that the blockchains are secured with extensive computing requirements.
Nesten is developing and delivering IoT infrastructure with advanced IoT-optimized blockchains. With hundreds of the gateways already running across the country and overseas and more expected within 2019, Nesten has outpaced the competition and is leading the transformation of the telecommunications industry.