Brad Horwitz has been a wireless pioneer on four continents as an entrepreneur, an innovator, and a humanitarian. In 1982, he started his wireless career as the national sales manager for McCaw Cellular. Brad was VP of International Operations and a founder and COO of SmarTone Mobile Communications Ltd. (Hong Kong). In 1995, Brad co-founded Western Wireless International (WWI). He then partnered with John Stanton to form Trilogy International, where he currently serves as CEO.
Establishing the first GSM system in Asia, Brad recruited and led the Hong Kong team that built SmarTone. He led the WWI team which built and operated 12 GSM systems in Europe (Latvia, Georgia, Croatia, Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland and Austria), Africa (Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire), Bolivia and Haiti. With Trilogy, Brad built and operated systems in New Zealand and the Dominican Republic. Traveling the world for three decades showed Brad’s hands-on commitment to high-quality systems and growth. He brought technical innovation and aggressive marketing to each of these countries. Brad often partnered with local companies to deliver customized services and provide brands which met the needs of local consumers. His enterprises created over 25,000 jobs, nearly all of which were filled by the local populations and provided services to over 10 million local customers.
When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, Brad personally took on the challenge of leading relief and recovery efforts. He led a team offering free handsets to locals and government officials, ensuring reliable communication services in the wake of the disaster. In Haiti and in other countries where he operated, his businesses adopted local causes and partnered with schools, food banks and hospitals. Brad was active in the development and operations of the Mobile Giving Foundation and has served on its board since 2011.
Brad graduated with a B.B.A. in International Marketing from San Diego State University. He is an independent non-executive director and Chairman of the Board of Hong Kong Broadband and is a board member of the Center for Global Development. For his service in Haiti, Brad was presented the “Cinema for Peace Humanitarian of the Year Award” by California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and he received the Award for Corporate Excellence presented by Madam Secretary Hillary Clinton, one of the highest honors of the U.S. State Department.
Inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2024.