MobileX jumpstarts profile with X Games

This weekend at the X Games, athletes from around the world will descend to Aspen, Colorado to compete in extreme sports competition, and MobileX will be there as an exclusive wireless carrier partner.

Given MobileX's previous sponsorship with NASCAR driver Brody Koutstecki and MobileX founder Petter Edderton's love for extremes, this is no big deal. After all, the Boost brand he helped establish in Australia was named after a surfing maneuver.

But it's new in the sense that MobileX is still fairly new in the wireless landscape. Although Adderton has been in the wireless and MVNO business for decades, MobileX was officially launched only about a year ago. It utilizes Verizon's network and promises big savings on data usage thanks to its unique application of artificial intelligence (AI).

Aderton, who founded Boost Mobile in Australia before bringing it to the U.S., said the first event he sponsored after launching Boost was the X Games in Aspen, which was "extremely successful."

Now as CEO of MobileX, "X Games relate really well" because of what they're trying to do with "expression, freedom and creativity." Just above the name, "It's really about people expressing themselves and that's what really works well for us."

Aderton is trying to bring some sizzle to the wireless game, which happened in 2002 when hip-hop artists sang praises of the Boost brand.

With the exception of John Legere's tenure as T-Mobile's CEO that for a while "made it a little bit interesting," the mobile industry is boring, Aderton said. For the most part, the mobile carrier mentality is one of a "country club" culture, he said.

That is why it's important for MobileX to be seen as an  instigative brand." It's really important for us to  concentrate on  erecting a brand that resonates with  guests and makes people want to wear the MobileX brand," he said, noting that back in Australia, people are so enamored with the Boost brand. are that- indeed  moment- they want to wear it. 

As the official wireless carrier partner, MobileX will offer ads and signage on ESPN/ESPN through today through Sunday, January 28. The coverage will feature X Games on ABC, Twitch and YouTube.

MobileX isn't disclosing how much they're spending; There are different levels of sponsorship.

However, Aderton notes that the cost of running MobileX, which is in the process of mounting another round of financing, is relatively low as it is in the cloud, with major costs being marketing, sales, and distribution.

Releted: MobileX marks the place where it aims to replace MVNO games

Of course, distribution is key, and a big part of MobileX's partnership with X Games is Walmart, where MobileX operates in about 3,700 stores nationwide and on the Walmart.com. MobileX is already in a lot of Walmart stores and is expected to be in most of them in the next few weeks.

While Aderton isn't shy about sharing his criticisms of the US Boost brand because it's owned by Dish Network, he admits that building the MobileX platform wasn't easy. In fact, MobileX was "a disaster" when it first launched in beta in 2022 and negative reviews were "100 percent correct," he said.  

Now, they've fixed those issues, and "where we are today is light years ahead," he said. He added that activating iPhones still has an extra step since MobileX refuses to buy handsets from Apple, but the onboarding process is easier.

For now, and for the foreseeable future, MobileX is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) service. The plan is to offer unlocked devices in the future. "We won't be in the subsidy business," he said, adding that customers will be able to take their unlocked devices to another service provider if they choose.

One area that has yet to be fully explained is how MobileX plans to deliver its service with the help of dealers. Aderton said he's always been a big supporter of independent wireless dealers and wants to inject some energy into the space. For more on that, Aderton's message is "Stay tuned."