Looking ahead to 2026, the DePIN sector is shifting toward sustainable growth models. Real-world examples like Dabba Network demonstrate how demand-driven approaches can replace capital-inefficient deployments. Their wireless infrastructure strategy in India is instructive: hotspots go live where actual paying subscribers exist, incentivizing local operators and device owners to participate meaningfully rather than chasing vanity metrics.

The numbers tell a compelling story about market fit—85,675 active hotspots supporting 259,959 daily active users, with 71,109 TB of bandwidth consumed. That's not theoretical adoption; it's genuine infrastructure utilization. This model suggests that 2026 winners will prioritize unit economics over network size, focusing on regions where last-mile connectivity gaps create real demand rather than speculative positioning.