Connectivity is often needed at street level.
A visitor lands in a new city and needs data before the journey continues. A traveler needs maps, messaging and transport updates while moving across town. A local customer wants a simple way to activate service without waiting for a physical SIM.
World Mobile is building for those moments.
Today, we’re launching a local retail connectivity strategy for North America. The strategy brings eSIM sales and activation into trusted neighborhood stores, starting in New York City with Bodegas.tv.
Local stores. Simple activation.
World Mobile is introducing a mobile EPOS system that enables participating retailers to sell and activate eSIMs in-store.
That matters because connectivity is not always bought in advance. Often, it is bought at the point of need: near a hotel, on the way to work, after arriving in a new city, or while preparing to travel.
Mobile EPOS gives retailers a practical way to support that need at the point of sale.
Customers can buy and activate an eSIM locally. Retailers can serve a pressing customer need. World Mobile gains a new route to acquisition through stores that already have daily footfall and local trust.
Built for summer 2026 travel
Summer 2026 will bring increased travel across North America.
World Mobile plans to support that demand with travel-focused eSIM packages for visitors who need connectivity while moving between cities, venues, hotels, transport hubs and local neighborhoods.
The goal is simple: make connectivity easier to buy, easier to activate and easier to understand at the point of need.
No unnecessary friction. No physical SIM required.
Why Bodegas.tv
Our first major partner in this new strategy is Bodegas.tv: New York City's first captive-audience in-store video network, launched at the Bodega & Small Business Innovation Summit on 4 June 2026, during NY Tech Week.
Bodegas are part of the daily rhythm of New York City. They serve residents, workers, visitors, families and businesses across the city. They are familiar, practical and close to the real-world moments when people need connectivity.
Through this partnership, Bodegas.tv brings an in-store media network, local retail relationships and a pathway into bodegas as trusted neighborhood access points.
Bodegas.tv will support the promotion of World Mobile and Cuentas SIMs and eSIMs through its in-store network and bodeguero point-of-sale activity. The partnership also supports a planned AirNode installation in a Bronx host bodega during NY Tech Week.
New York City as the starting point
New York City is a strong place to start because it is dense, fast-moving and built around local retail.
The city has high population density, a deep network of independent retail locations and a culture where bodegas sit at the center of everyday neighborhood life. Bodegas.tv also brings existing operational infrastructure across that retail environment, giving World Mobile a practical route into stores customers already use.
For World Mobile, this creates a model to test and grow: eSIM sales through local retailers, in-store education and activation, seasonal travel connectivity and, for the right partners over time, future Network Builder participation in urban markets.
This is retail distribution and customer activation working in the same local environment.
The Network Builder connection
World Mobile Network Builder is the program for operators to secure Hex territories, deploy AirNodes and grow subscriber coverage.
The local retail strategy creates a path for selected retailers and local partners to learn more about that model over time. Bodegas.tv is expected to take part as a Network Builder, with AirNodes deployed across host bodegas to extend local connectivity in the neighborhoods they already serve.
The immediate focus is eSIM activation and customer acquisition. Not every retailer will become a Network Builder participant, and that is not the point.
For the right partners, local retail can become a first step into a wider role in World Mobile’s community-operated infrastructure model.
Cuentas and USA expansion
Cuentas is an important part of the wider USA expansion plan.
We previously acquired approximately 18.5% of Cuentas Inc., strengthening the framework behind World Mobile’s expansion in the USA. In that announcement, we noted that Cuentas brings an exclusive mobility license and an established USA operating structure.
Through the Bodegas.tv partnership, Cuentas becomes part of the retail channel for SIM and eSIM promotion. The lead focus remains World Mobile’s local retail connectivity strategy and the launch of eSIM activation through trusted neighborhood stores.
"Local retail gives World Mobile a practical route to customer activation. With mobile EPOS, participating retailers can sell and activate eSIMs in the stores people already use every day. Bodegas.tv gives us a strong starting point in New York City, with a pathway to support summer travel connectivity and explore future Network Builder participation in a dense urban market." - Charles Barnett, Chief Business Officer, World Mobile
"Bodegas are trusted by the communities they serve every day. This partnership with World Mobile gives bodegueros a way to support connectivity in-store, starting with eSIM activation and expanding into a broader model for local participation." - Eduardo Velasco, CEO, Bodega.tv
What comes next
World Mobile and Bodegas.tv will begin with launch activity in New York City during NY Tech Week, including a planned AirNode installation in the Bronx and in-store promotion through the Bodegas.tv network.
Early commercial activity will include travel-focused eSIM packages for visitors during the busy summer 2026 travel season across North America.
From there, World Mobile will continue to develop its local retail strategy with participating retailers, mobile EPOS activation and selected pathways into Network Builder.
Connectivity works best when access is local. This strategy puts that access closer to where people already are.
Check coverage. Get started.
