- Noble Mobile has acquired SmartLess Mobile, the MVNO backed by the SmartLess podcast hosts
- SmartLess CEO Paul McAleese is joining Noble as an investor and advisor
- Andrew Yang isn’t worried about Starlink Mobile, saying customer loyalty will matter “no matter what the big guys are doing”
Andrew Yang’s MVNO Noble Mobile has acquired SmartLess Mobile, the mobile venture launched by actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett and backed by Thomvest. Financial terms were not disclosed.
A spokesperson told Fierce that the combined entity will have more than 50,000 subscribers when all is said and done. Noble Mobile rides on T-Mobile’s network.
Similar to Noble Mobile’s acquisition of Helium Mobile earlier this year, the tie-up makes a lot of sense. Both Noble Mobile and SmartLess Mobile emphasize how most people are overpaying for phone service when they don’t need that much data. Noble Mobile takes it all a step further by rewarding people for not using their phones.
“From our perspective, it was a win across multiple dimensions,” Yang told Fierce. “We have many of the same cultural values and alignment. So it was very exciting for us.”
SmartLess Mobile CEO Paul McAleese will be joining Noble Mobile as an investor and advisor.
Fierce asked Yang why he wanted to get into the mobile industry in the first place – given that running an MVNO generally is no walk in the park. Some big brands have found that out the hard way.
“I'm driven by the fact that I believe AI is going to decimate many livelihoods and jobs, and that Americans are increasingly cash-strapped and looking for a way to reduce their monthly expenses,” he said.
The average American is still spending $80 or more per month on their wireless service, he said, adding he was personally spending more than $150 for one line at Verizon – and more if he went overseas and spent $10/day for a travel pass.
“The opportunity to help Americans keep more of their money, and in Noble's case, also reduce their screen time and build relationships and experiences in the real world was incredibly compelling,” he said. “I'm a parent, and our kids are spending way too much time hypnotized by their phones and their screens and Noble is the first company to pay people to doom scroll a bit less and look up more.”
An MVNO that pays for disconnecting
Noble Mobile members can earn up to $20/month in cash back for using their phones less, and that cash back grows in annual interest at 5.5% a year. The average Noble member gets back about $13/month.
He admitted that he’s a “fairly heavy phone user,” and he’s gotten cash back on a “good month, and then on bad months, I don’t. But it works. The average Noble Mobile user is more mindful.”
The company recently rolled out a new feature called “Brain Rot Index,” a real-time metric built into the Noble Mobile app that tracks screen habits, doomscrolls and phone pick-ups. The metrics are converted into daily wellness scores.
Yang became a household name during the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign where his slogan was “Make America Think Harder” (MATH). His platform promoted a universal basic income and his grassroots supporters became known as the “Yang Gang.”
While he still makes media appearances, running Noble Mobile is a full-time job. On occasion, he’s been known to pick up the phone when someone calls customer service – but he jokes that he’s also been mistaken for a bot. “I have sort of a bot-like voice, but they eventually realized that it was actually me,” he said.
Noble Mobile uses AI to resolve customer service issues, but if someone is having a problem they can’t resolve, they can call customer service and a human will answer the call, he said.
Noble focuses on customer loyalty
With SpaceX’s plans to build a terrestrial network dominating the headlines of late, Fierce asked what that might mean for an MVNO like Noble Mobile.
Yang said Noble is focused on helping consumers get a better experience and better value. “Our goal is to build strong relationships with our customers, such that if Starlink does come on the scene, our customers will say, ‘I’m having a great experience here at Noble,’ and we think that's going to be very valuable no matter what the big guys are doing,” he said.
Asked if more acquisitions are underway, he said “we are having active conversations” and they’re happy to speak with companies that might be a good addition.
More immediately, though, Noble Mobile has a “super exciting” celebrity coming on board and they’ll be launching a new campaign soon. But he would not reveal who it is.
“It’s someone widely known and beloved by Americans everywhere,” he said. Stay tuned!
Read more MVNO stories on Fierce Network:
Andrew Yang’s Noble Mobile acquires Helium Mobile
New Noble Mobile MVNO launches with Andrew Yang as CEO