NBA champion Tristan Thompson has announced a partnership with global telecom company World Mobile to launch Uplift, a community-owned mobile network, at TechCrunch Disrupt. The network will offer unlimited data plans starting at $9.99 per month.<\/p>\n
Uplift is built on blockchain technology and a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), providing a unique approach to mobile networking.<\/p>\n
The Uplift network is designed to contribute to neighborhood-level network expansion with every subscription, while local hosts, known as “AirNode operators,” will earn a portion of network revenue by providing community coverage. This approach aims to challenge the traditional centralized model of the $2 trillion telecom industry by allowing users and local operators to share in the value they create.<\/p>\n
Thompson emphasized the importance of providing affordable connectivity to underserved communities, stating, “For me, it’s about helping people who have walked the same life that I walked, and I think what we’re doing is providing connectivity and connection for unlimited data at a much lower cost.” He added, “It’s about giving people hope and helping my community have a better tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
As an outspoken advocate for innovation and inclusion, Thompson holds four C-suite roles across the Web3 and fintech landscape. He is the chief digital equity officer at World Mobile and the chief advisory officer at AxonDAO, an AI-powered medical research platform inspired by his brother’s epilepsy journey.<\/p>\n Thompson is also the co-founder of Basketball Fun, a Web3 platform that tokenizes NBA players, and the chief content officer at Tracy AI, an AI platform for real-time sports analytics.<\/p>\n Through Uplift, Thompson and World Mobile aim to drive affordable community-owned internet access, with a focus on expanding connectivity to underserved areas.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> World Mobile has successfully piloted this model in Reno, Nevada, where community hosts have earned over $10,000 annually by providing coverage to underserved areas. The Uplift network operates on proven infrastructure from World Mobile’s U.S. deployments.<\/p>\n Thompson highlighted the impact of Uplift, stating, “We brought about 20% of Reno back to connectivity.” He also mentioned that during a hurricane in North Carolina, World Mobile was able to provide connectivity to affected areas when other providers were unable to do so.<\/p>\n The Uplift service will initially launch in Cleveland, Ohio, and will expand to additional cities in 2026.<\/p>\n With over 50 million Americans living at or near the poverty line and lacking access to affordable high-speed data, Uplift aims to bridge this gap while ensuring that the wealth generated by mobile usage stays within the neighborhoods that create it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n[ad_2]\n [ad_1] Here is the rewritten content without changing its meaning, retaining the original length, and keeping proper headings and titles: NBA champion Tristan Thompson has announced a partnership with global…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[2467,4248,70,7588],"class_list":{"0":"post-31409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-disrupt-2025","9":"tag-techcrunch-disrupt","10":"tag-techcrunch-disrupt-2025","11":"tag-tristan-thompson"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/10\/2244055209.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2244055206.jpg?w=680\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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