Brad Horwitz has been a wireless pioneer on four continents, as an entrepreneur, an innovator and a humanitarian. In 1982, he started as the National Sales Manager for McCaw Cellular. Brad worked for McCaw Cellular until 1994. From 1992 to 1996, Brad was VP of International Operations and a founder and COO of SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited (Hong Kong) while under secondment from McCaw.
In 1995, Brad founded Western Wireless International (WWI) and served as its president until that business was sold in 2005. That year, he formed Trilogy International Partners where he has served as CEO and he remains in that role today.
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, Austria, Iceland, Ireland and Austria), Africa (Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire), Bolivia and Haiti. Brad built and operated systems in New Zealand and the Dominican Republic with Trilogy. 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 new country. In most of these international markets, Brad partnered with local companies to deliver customized local services and brands which met the needs of local consumers. His enterprises created a total of over 25,000 jobs almost entirely filled by the local population and provided services to over 10 million local customers.
Brad rose to the occasion in September 2008, after Haiti was hit with four hurricanes and tropical storms, and then again, after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. He personally took on the challenge of leading relief and recovery efforts. Brad led the team to offer free handsets and service for government and relief efforts. He worked closely with international search teams to find those lost in the rubble. In each local market, 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.
CTIA recognized Brad for his work in Haiti in 2010. He was presented the “Cinema for Peace Humanitarian of the Year Award” by Kamala Harris, (then Attorney General for California) for service in Haiti post-earthquake, and he received the Award for Corporate Excellence presented by Madame Secretary Hillary Clinton, the highest honor of the US State Department.
Inducted into the Wireless Hall of Fame in 2024.