LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 12, 2025--
NBA champion, tech and Web3 expert Tristan Thompson is stepping off the court and into the skies—literally, as he announces his new role as telecoms trailblazer World Mobile’s first Chief Digital Equity Officer with its game-changing aerospace subsidiary World Mobile Stratospheric and mission to connect the 3 billion people who still live without internet access. Thompson is teaming up with the global decentralized wireless network to spotlight overlooked digital divides and champion a future where communities own their connectivity. In a world where connectivity means access to education, opportunity, and economic freedom, Thompson is leading a bold new approach: telecoms from the stratosphere.
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The announcement kicks off a multi-tier campaign aimed at raising awareness around hidden infrastructure gaps — not only in rural regions but also in places people least expect, like Hidden Hills in Los Angeles or pockets of inner-city Cleveland. In his new role, Thompson will work closely with World Mobile to drive visibility and real-world solutions in these areas. As part of this initiative, Thompson is introducing the Community Connectivity Fund, a multi-million-dollar effort designed to help low-income neighborhoods gain access to affordable, high-speed internet through World Mobile’s decentralized model. The fund will support pilot programs, local infrastructure installations, and education around community ownership of mobile networks.
As an additional strategic move, World Mobile has announced an unprecedented partnership with Protelindo, Indonesia’s largest digital infrastructure company, to develop and deploy a pioneering stratospheric connectivity network. Powered by hydrogen-fueled, fixed-wing aircraft, the solution will support internet access for hundreds of millions of global web users, particularly in underserved regions, through sustainable and cost-effective technology. The pioneering network leverages hydrogen-powered, fixed-wing aircraft operating as High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS), capable of maintaining a stationary position at altitudes of approximately 20,000 meters. Utilizing World Mobile’s blockchain-based infrastructure, these aircraft will provide direct-to-handset internet access, supporting hundreds of thousands of concurrent users with cellular connectivity.
Central to this innovation is World Mobile’s native WMTx token, which serves as the economic backbone for the entire network. The blockchain-secured token manages on-chain settlements, permissioned network access, and economic incentives, creating a self-sustaining value loop. Users, infrastructure providers, and node operators are economically aligned, ensuring continuous expansion and sustainability of the network.
Micky Watkins, CEO of World Mobile, said in a statement, “This partnership embodies the potential of blockchain and decentralized economics to reshape global connectivity. By integrating token-driven incentives with advanced aerospace technology, we’re creating a resilient and economically viable model for bringing reliable internet to underserved regions at unprecedented scale.”
Indra Gunawan, senior representative at Protelindo added, “World Mobile’s blockchain-based approach to connectivity infrastructure addresses key challenges faced by geographically diverse countries like Indonesia. We see tremendous potential in leveraging this technology to bring consistent, scalable internet access to communities currently beyond traditional reach.”
The hydrogen-powered aircraft at the heart of the initiative have already undergone successful testing with major telecom companies in the UK and Middle East. Capable of delivering connectivity across vast regions, the aircraft can efficiently cover remote and rural areas typically underserved by fiber and traditional cellular networks. Hydrogen fuel also drastically reduces environmental impact, achieving a projected 99% reduction in carbon emissions compared to satellite-based solutions.
Deployment of the blockchain-enabled aircraft will initially target strategic geographic markets such as Indonesia and the United States, where challenging terrains and underserved communities stand to benefit significantly. Despite advanced telecom infrastructure in the U.S., approximately 11% of citizens lack reliable connectivity, demonstrating the pressing need for innovative solutions. World Mobile’s DePIN initiative represents a significant leap forward for blockchain-based infrastructure, merging decentralized economic incentives with real-world utility. The network not only promises expanded internet access but also introduces a sustainable, token-driven economic model that can be replicated globally.
Thompson’s role with World Mobile merges influence, personal journey, and impact. Growing up with limited access to opportunity, and now facing connectivity issues in even the most developed areas, he is focused on the mission to connect the unconnected — starting in the neighborhoods that often fall through the cracks. His appointment marks a major step in World Mobile’s efforts to educate and empower people to not only access the internet but also benefit from the infrastructure behind it. Together, World Mobile and Tristan Thompson are not only rethinking who gets connected, but who gets to own the network — creating a world where everyone has the power to build and benefit from their own digital future. With Tristan Thompson on board, World Mobile isn’t just changing telecoms—it’s changing lives. The mission is clear: everyone, everywhere deserves to be connected.
About World Mobile
World Mobile is revolutionizing global connectivity through its blockchain-based Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), empowering individuals and communities to build, maintain, and monetize telecom infrastructure through blockchain-driven economic incentives. Learn more at https://worldmobile.io.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his Republican administration and allies have put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships that's yet to be built.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he attended a ceremony at his Florida home to mark the renaming of a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
“That’s a very important stretch," Trump said as he thanked local officials for the dedication.
“When people see that the beautiful sign is all lit up nice at night and it says ‘Donald J. Trump Boulevard,’ they’ll be filled with pride. Just pride," Trump said. “Not in me. Pride in our country.”
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.
“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.
The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.
For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.
That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.
Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.
The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.
“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”
Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.
“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”
Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.
Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.
“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.
Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.
McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”
“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.
More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.
Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.
The boulevard dedicated to Trump on Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.
In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.
Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.
“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.
He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
Supporters wave flags as President Donald Trump motorcades through West Palm Beach, Fla., along Southern Boulevard, the stretch of road being dedicated to him, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Attendees wait for President Donald Trump to arrive at a dedication ceremony for a portion of Southern Boulevard, which the Town of Palm Beach Council recently voted to rename,"President Donald J. Trump Boulevard," Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
