Short answer: Three things changed in quick succession. HNT appreciation first lifted network-wide Mobile earnings above the HIP 149 target, from 5.01 cents per rewardable GB on August 28 to 11.06 cents on August 30. Then, for the August 31 UTC epoch, HIP 150 enlarged the deployer reward pool while the end of T-Mobile offload through Ameriband left substantially fewer rewardable bytes sharing it. The result was 25.57 cents per rewardable GB.
Network-wide Mobile earnings
5.01¢ → 25.57¢
Per rewardable GB, August 28-31, 2026 UTC epochs
5.1x
in three epochs
The jump, day by day
The flat section near 5 cents and the later rise are different regimes. Under HIP 149, the Backstop target supported deployers at 50% of the payer rate when baseline rewards were too low. At a $0.10 payer rate, that target was approximately 5 cents per rewardable GB. It was a target mechanism, not a permanent fixed rate.
Because baseline rewards are denominated in HNT, their dollar value rose as HNT appreciated. Earnings moved above the Backstop target before either HIP 150 or the T-Mobile removal affected the August 31 epoch: 6.19 cents on August 29 and 11.06 cents on August 30.
What changed for the August 31 epoch?
The final move from 11.06 cents to 25.57 cents can be explained from the network records without assigning the entire jump to any one headline.
Data-transfer HNT rewards
+34.31%
Network-wide rewards rose from about 14.0K HNT to 18.8K HNT, closely matching HIP 150's allocation change from 70% to 94%.
Rewardable traffic
-44.97%
Rewardable volume fell from 86,858 GB to 47,800 GB after T-Mobile offload was removed.
HNT/USD oracle price
-5.29%
The epoch price used in reward calculations eased slightly from August 30, but remained about 2.8 times its August 28 level.
Those effects combine rather than add. A 34.31% larger data-transfer HNT reward total was spread across 44.97% fewer rewardable GB, while the HNT price input retained 94.71% of its prior-day value:
August 30 to August 31
11.06¢ × 1.343 × 1.817 × 0.947 = 25.57¢
Larger reward pool × fewer-GB effect × HNT price effect
The calculation is useful because it shows what did not happen: the final-day increase was not caused by another HNT price surge. HNT had already lifted the rate on August 29 and 30. On August 31, more HNT assigned to data-transfer rewards and a lower traffic denominator drove the additional jump while HNT remained elevated.
How did HIP 150 affect the rate?
HIP 150 made two broad changes relevant to deployers:
- Nova Labs redirected its 24% Service Provider allocation into the Mobile data bucket, moving the scheduled allocation from 70% to 94%. That is a 34.3% relative increase in the scheduled data allocation.
- The Backstop target increased from 50% to 80% of the payer rate, or from approximately 5 cents to 8 cents at a $0.10 payer rate.
The observed 34.31% increase in data-transfer HNT rewards closely matches the 34.29% increase expected when the allocation moves from 70% to 94%. The higher Backstop target does not explain why the observed rate reached 25.57 cents: earnings were already above both the old 5-cent and new 8-cent targets. Read What is HIP 150? for the full mechanics, time limits, and optional location multipliers.
How did the T-Mobile removal affect the rate?
Before the disconnect, T-Mobile represented 47.29% of rewardable Mobile traffic bytes over the preceding 30 complete UTC days. After all T-Mobile selections were removed, total rewardable traffic fell 44.97% from the August 30 epoch to the August 31 epoch.
With fewer rewardable GB sharing the pool, the network-wide earnings rate per GB increased. That is denominator math, not new carrier revenue. The August 28 event notes and August 31 outcome explain why the integration ended, which traffic was affected, and what remained active.
Does a higher rate per GB mean deployers earned more?
Not necessarily. Total data earnings depend on both the rate and the amount of rewardable data:
Rate is not total income
Total data earnings = rewardable GB served × earnings per rewardable GB
A hotspot can earn more per GB but less in total if it loses enough traffic. Deployers heavily exposed to T-Mobile may therefore see lower total earnings despite the higher network-wide rate.
What does 25.57 cents per GB not mean?
- It is not a new guaranteed rate. It is the observed network-wide result for one complete UTC epoch.
- It is not what carriers necessarily paid. The payer rate and deployer reward rate are different quantities.
- It does not mean every hotspot earned more. Hotspot earnings depend on its own rewardable traffic and eligibility.
- It was not produced by 1.5x or 5x location multipliers. Higher multipliers require separate approval and a signed ticket; they should not be assumed in the network-wide result.
- It can move again. HNT price, rewardable volume, reward-pool allocation, Backstop support, and the earnings cap can all change future results.
FAQ
Why were earnings close to 5 cents before the jump?
HIP 149 targeted 50% of the payer rate when baseline rewards were too low. At a $0.10 payer rate, that was approximately 5 cents per rewardable GB. The Backstop added bounded support when needed, which kept the observed rate near that target during the low-HNT-price period.
Did HIP 150 raise the guaranteed rate to 25.57 cents?
No. HIP 150 raised the target from 50% to 80% of the payer rate, approximately 8 cents at a $0.10 payer rate. The 25.57-cent result was above that target and came from the combined reward pool, traffic volume, and HNT price conditions.
Did HNT price cause the entire increase?
No. HNT appreciation explains why the rate rose above 5 cents on August 29 and reached 11.06 cents on August 30. From August 30 to August 31, the HNT price used in rewards eased slightly; the enlarged deployer pool and lower rewardable volume explain the final acceleration.
Did removing T-Mobile make the network more profitable?
No such conclusion follows from the rate alone. Removing traffic reduced the number of rewardable GB sharing the HNT pool, which raised earnings per GB. It also removed traffic and associated payer activity, and individual hotspots may earn less in total.
Will earnings remain near 25.57 cents per GB?
There is no guarantee. The rate can move with HNT price, rewardable traffic, the amount of HNT available to data deployers, Backstop conditions, the earnings cap, and future carrier activity.
Sources and related reading
- What is HIP 150? Mobile deployer rewards explained
- T-Mobile Offload via Ameriband Is Ending: event notes and August 31 outcome
- What is HIP 149?
- HIP 150: Mobile Deployer Prioritization
- HIP 149: Helium Utility and Emissions Realignment
- HIP 150 vote result
- HeliumGeek network-wide Mobile epoch records for August 23-31, 2026: data-transfer HNT rewards, rewardable bytes, and the HNT/USD oracle price used for rewards
- HeliumGeek verified carrier data for the 30 complete UTC days from July 30 through August 28, 2026
Last updated September 1, 2026. Epoch values use complete UTC reward periods and are rounded for display.