NBA Champion โTristan Thompson Launches Uplift,โฃ aโ Community-owned Wireless Network
CLEVELAND, OH – NBA champion Tristan Thompson andโข World Mobile are launching Uplift, a new initiative aimed at providing โฃaffordable, community-owned internet access to underserved โฃareas across the United States. The โannouncement was made as Thompson highlighted his commitment to bridging the digital divide and empowering communities.
Thompson, who wonโฃ an NBAโ championship wiht the Cleveland Cavaliers, isโค increasingly focused on โinnovation and inclusion, currentlyโ holding four C-suite roles โin the web3โ and fintech sectors. He serves as โขchief digital equity officerโค at World Mobile and chief advisory officer โat AxonDAO, โanโ AI-powered medical research platform inspired by โhisโค brother’s epilepsy journey.He isโ also โคco-founder of Basketball Fun, a web3 platform tokenizing NBAโข players, and chief โคcontent officer at Tracy AI, an AI platform for โขreal-time sports analytics.
“For me, it’s about,โ how can I help peopleโ that have walkedโฃ the same life that I walked, and I think for us, whatโ we’re doing isโค providing connectivity โฃand โคconnection for unlimited data at a way โคlower cost,” Thompson said. “It’sโข like,how โฃcan I help myโ community have a better tomorrow? And that’s what this is about.”
Upliftโ utilizes a tested โขand scalable model, previously piloted in Reno, Nevada, where community hosts earned over $10,000 annually by providing coverage โคto underservedโฃ areas. World โคMobileโฃ reports the service operates on infrastructure โalready proven through its U.S.โข deployments.โ
Thompson detailedโค a recent success,stating,”We โbrought about 20% of reno backโ to connectivity,” and recounted providing critical connectivity to Asheville,North Carolina,followingโ a hurricane when Starlinkโฃ was unableโ to โrestore service.โ “We were actually the ones that brought connectivity back toโข Asheville, North Carolina, duringโฃ that hurricane.”
The rollout will begin in Cleveland, Ohio, with expansion to additional cities planned โขfor 2026.World Mobile estimates thatโ over 50 million Americans live at or near the โpoverty line โand lack access to affordableโค high-speed data. Upliftโค aims to address this disparity while ensuring thatโ revenue generated from mobile usage remains within the communities it โคserves.
