How Smart Dealers Will Win the Next 5 Years

How Smart Dealers Will Win the Next 5 Years

In this episode of The Boon of Wireless, host Jon Horovitz sits down with Darius Allen, co-founder of Rockstar Wireless, to discuss how he's reimagining wireless distribution, customer rewards, and AI-powered support from the ground up. Allen's telecom background goes back to 2013, when he helped bring the Siam 7X — the first dual-screen smartphone — to the U.S. market in partnership with SMS Audio. Today he's applying that same early-mover instinct to Rockstar Wireless, a lifestyle-driven MVNO with a three-year goal of reaching one million customers through a combination of culture-forward marketing, next-generation distribution, and the Freequency rewards ecosystem. Rather than traditional retail, Rockstar distributes through influencers and creators using eSIM, Cellpay placements in 25,000+ stores, DoorDash device delivery in major metro areas, and community partnerships with churches, schools, nonprofits, and the U.S. military. The Freequency app rewards users with wireless bill credits for everyday activities including games, surveys, and walking — while Rockstar.ai delivers celebrity-based AI agents and round-the-clock customer concierge support.

Wireless Retailers Are Losing Thousands_ Here's How to Stop It

In this episode of The Boon of Wireless, host Jon Horovitz sits down with Pete Gulick, founder of Scorpion Security Products, to talk about how the rise of organized retail crime and shrink pushed him to build one of the wireless industry's most innovative asset-protection companies — now holding 45 patents with a global retail presence. Gulick walks through Scorpion's "Future Forward" philosophy: designing universal, high-security physical solutions that stay ahead of new device releases before they hit store shelves. He explains how Scorpion strikes the balance between locking product down and keeping the in-store customer experience clean — with hardware that allows quick associate removal, easy re-locking, and faster nightly safe storage to reduce internal theft exposure.

MVNO Nation 2026: The Conversations Every Wireless Retailer Needs to Hear

The Boon of Wireless was on the ground at MVNO Nation Americas 2026 in Miami — and host Jon Horovitz brings back everything from the show floor. With record attendance, an intimate decision-maker environment, and Jon serving as chair for day one and moderator across multiple sessions, this episode is your inside look at the conversations shaping the MVNO industry right now.

US Mobile's Vision for Global Connectivity with CEO and Founder Ahmed Khattak

In this episode of The Boon of Wireless, host Jon Horovitz sits down with Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile, to discuss how he's been quietly building one of the most innovative wireless companies in the country since 2014. US Mobile operates as a software-driven hybrid carrier across multiple major networks — including Starlink — with a unified app and single billing system. Khattak explains how the company earned non-exclusive multi-network access through consistent carrier commitments, enabling customers to switch networks in a few clicks or run multiple networks on one device simultaneously. With over 1 million customers and more than $250M in revenue, Khattak credits the company's growth to an engineering-first culture, tight customer feedback loops via Reddit, and a digital-only go-to-market approach. He also details the Starlink cellular-plus-home-internet bundle and shares his vision for the future — a globally converged wireless experience across networks, regions, and devices.

How Rich Balot Built Victra Into Verizon's Largest Retailer

In this episode of The Boon of Wireless, host Jon Horovitz sits down with Rich Balot, founder of Victra and Verizon's largest authorized retail partner. Rich started as a teenage mobile DJ, opened his first US Cellular store in college to employ his father, and grew Victra into a nationwide wireless retail powerhouse operating roughly 1,800 Verizon locations across all 50 states, with 300+ total doors, approximately $3B in annual revenue, and up to 10,000 employees. Rich walks through his full journey — switching carriers from US Cellular to Alltel, navigating Verizon's Alltel acquisition, selling to private equity, returning as CEO in 2019, and buying the company back in 2021 through a 650-store Go Wireless acquisition. He also discusses people-first leadership, building a strong retail culture, entering the prepaid space through Total Wireless, the challenges of longer upgrade cycles and inventory constraints, and his roadmap to 2,000 stores.