Hawk Networks and C14 Partner to Expand Open Internet Access with Althea

Hawk Networks and C14 partnered to empower access to high-speed, affordable internet services through the Althea platform. Althea Networks’ innovative machine-to-machine billing and routing solution is blockchain powered, and C14 provides easy to use payment rails for Althea’s rapidly expanding user base. The partners are excited to announce the expansion of their service following a successful test pilot in an Althea powered network in California.

Hawk Networks, the team behind Althea, has been rapidly expanding the reach of its innovative blockchain powered routing and billing solution. In an Althea network, users can select their choice of cost and speed (latency) and use flexible pre-paid billing instead of a legacy, rental based model.

Althea’s decentralized system allows users to provision internet service with unmatched speed, reliability, and privacy, while also empowering new entities to build these flexible networks in rural and dense urban environments. C14’s payment rails allow Althea users to easily top-up their balances and access the Althea Network in select states. Following a successful pilot program in California, the companies will expand access to new jurisdictions throughout the United States.

Althea was founded in 2018 with a mission to remove friction from telecom processes resulting in democratized access to high quality internet service at affordable prices. Althea’s smart routers and LTE core, KeyLTE, are programmed to automatically find the fastest and cheapest bandwidth connection available. Althea’s Relay Nodes are hosted locally, keeping funds in and supporting the local community.

“Althea is a paradigm shift in broadband access, empowering new entities to build networks and smart connectivity in unique ways. Partnering with C14 makes the process to participate and use the network simple,” said Deborah Simpier, CEO and Co-founder of Althea.

C14 was founded in 2022 by CEO Erich Grant with the goal of making blockchain related crypto payments as easy and seamless as traditional web2 ecommerce. The company has expanded covered jurisdictions and payment methods rapidly in the past year. C14 now operates both domestically and internationally, including credit and debit card payments as well as local bank transfers in Brazil and Mexico.

“Partnering with Althea was a natural fit for C14. Our mandate is to improve access to digital assets for users worldwide, and the success of our partnership with Althea is a testament to the power of this idea,” said Grant.

Compliance around blockchain payments is a key concern for C14, and its partnership with Althea allows users to easily access the Althea Network while remaining compliant with its obligations as a Money Service Business.

“Compliance is the number one concern at C14, and we are delighted to have built a flow that is both safe and easy for consumers to access the Althea Network,” said Grant.

Althea Networks have been expanding rapidly across the United States, serving new markets in multiple states. Hawk Networks and C14 will work together to allow users in over a half dozen new states to utilize C14’s payment flow to top up their Althea routers.

C14 currently provides ramping services to a blend of established blockchains, as well as newer emerging technologies. As Althea Network moves toward the launch of its own L1 chain in the coming quarters, C14 is proud to commit to servicing the new chain upon launch, while still servicing customers who are accessing Althea through existing blockchains.

“With Althea’s Layer 1, builders and innovators can create new smart contracts and applications on a blockchain purpose built for telecom and infrastructure, with the high uptime, access to multi-chain bridging, and reliability that real-world integration requires,” said Simpier.

About Althea

Althea is the Global Settlement layer for Connectivity and Infrastructure.

An interoperable and open platform and blockchain, combining the power of software defined networking with programmatic machine-to-machine micro-transaction and tokenized infrastructure to unlock and remove friction from legacy systems.

About C14

C14 creates seamless fiat <> crypto payment flow for Web3 businesses.

Existing fiat <> crypto ramps are expensive, difficult-to-use, and support only a small fraction of potential users around the world. C14 is building the next generation of fiat <> crypto payment flow: a seamless, ecommerce-like payment widget that can be embedded in websites and dApps across partner blockchain ecosystems. The C14 widget will support users in established markets, as well as emerging and underserved markets around the world, by integrating the most adopted payment rails in each coverage zone.

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