Posted on Oct 23, 2014
TSgt Scott Hurley
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I was just in Radio Shack today when I saw a sign out front talking about "Military Mobile." At this time they have no brochures on it which is odd. I did ask the sales employee about it. And he informed me that even they are somewhat in the dark about it. But that it is supposed to roll out on November 1st.

I asked what this program does, and supposedly it will allow you to use a phone on any of the existing carrier networks. Even if you have a phone with say Verizon, you can use it on AT&T network and vice versa. Like Even if you have an existing phone you can use the system too. I do not know if the carriers are involved in this, but I do know that both the Samsung Galaxy and the iPhone will be able to use it. The question remains to be seen as to what functions it will be able to do.

Also, it can be military specific for each branch of service. So if you see a sign in front of your local Radio Shack, go in and ask questions. Also, go in to any store that may have a sign that talks about "Military Mobile."
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LTC Chris Norton
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TSgt Scott Hurley -I can't tell you how cool it is for me to see this in here.

I'm one of the guys launching the firm.

We have not done a LOT of advertising yet, as since you learned at RadioShack we are just about to launch it, but more is coming out on ARMYmobile, MARINESmobile, NAVYmobile, AIRFORCEmobile, and COASTGUARDmobile.

Here's the net.

We looked at USAA and said, "That's a REAL GOOD BUSINESS MODEL...how come no one else is doing that?". So we did.

Every single member of ours has to have served honorably or be in uniform now. Once you've passed that check, we modeled after DEERS and allow you to sponsor other accounts for spouses, family members, etc...

We are a Commerce for a Cause Corporation-We by design set aside 10% of our profit to go back to the Military Community via the VSOs, non-profits, etc...that take care of us as a community. We're expecting that to look something like ~$50M a year we're giving back by the end of 2017.

We then approached the carriers with this operating concept, since we needed a network....and walked away with the "three largest networks" powering us. Other than Sprint, the other two have not said we can publicly announce their names yet.

Suffice to say it's a real large GSM carrier (see my prior employer) and an even large competing CDMA carrier. In all cases we run over their 4G and LTE networks.

Like the rep at RS noted, you can bring a device as well as get one through us.

We have platform that allows us to move you from one carrier network to the other as needed to ensure you have the best possible coverage-on the device you have. No ETF, frequently no need for a new phone. real useful when you PCS.

We're in most cases cheaper than the other carriers, or at least competitive. That's really not what we're designed to do though. If all you want is "the cheapest", you can go to Walmart for that.

Besides the giveback, we then designed and built a solution to the mess that is benefits. We said to ourselves..."how can we make this easier using technology" and built an app that for all intents and purposes works like TurboTax: It builds a profile on you based on your particular service elements, and then suggests and leads you to the federal, state, and local (example-Fishing Licenses) benefits and resources available to you.

There's more we're overlaying against it-Lifetime branch-specific email (I have been annoyed to say the least at the loss of my AKO mail), a mobile wallet/deals and offers platform with linked mastercard that connects the veteran segment to the "10% off" type deals a lot of us do now, and some other things we're working on for post-launch.

Chief Montgomery found the press release covering our Radioshack partnership...as a logistician I LOVE the retail footprint they give us; but we've got a number of other things coming as well.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12274022.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12264266.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12256035.htm (Note-These guys do the assisted sale at most of the Exchanges)

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12247028.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12231962.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/09/prweb12204716.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/09/prweb12137610.htm

The Nov 1 Date may actually get moved up. The best way to stay tuned in there is to follow us on Social Media-Each Branch Brand, as well as the parent company, have active Facebook and Twitter handles.

Looking forward to getting this off the ground, and
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LTC Chris Norton
LTC Chris Norton
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SGT (Join to see) - finances. I was out the door in March, operations ended in July or August. It sucks. Was a damn good product and team.
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SGT Writer
SGT (Join to see)
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LTC Chris Norton - Sorry to hear. Any good Lessons Learned you can share with us youngins regarding entrepreneurship and start-ups ?
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LTC Chris Norton
LTC Chris Norton
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Investor selection is critical.

Don't agonize over a perfect plan.

Build small and scale.

Have more but offline would be better.
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SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM
SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM
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Good Information!
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CW5 Desk Officer
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I agree, SFC (Join to see). Guess we'll find out on November 1st. Or ... I think I may have found the scoop on this. Check this out:

http://media.radioshackcorporation.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=242236&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=1961844
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SFC Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Operations Specialist
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I was always under the impression that GSM and CDMA don't play well with one another. But, if this is true, then it is awesome.
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LTC Chris Norton
LTC Chris Norton
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It's not the technology, it's that the carriers don't like it to. Mercedes, BMW, for example, have been pushing out cars from a single assembly line for global distribution for years with the ability to flip from GSM to CDMA since they never know where they will ship to.
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