LightSquared

Things might finally be looking up for LightSquared, the much ballyhooed wireless startup with big plans to blanket the U.S. with 4G LTE service.

The company, which seemed doomed a year ago after the GPS industry successfully lobbied against its efforts to use 40MHz of unused satellite spectrum for terrestrial wireless broadband, may be getting a second chance after all.

This week the company received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to test the feasibility of sharing spectrum with the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). If all goes well with the testing, the company could use this … Read more

The hedge-fund backed LightSquared isn't giving up on its plan to build a nationwide 4G wireless network. But the path forward is likely to be a long one.

Last week, LightSquared, which was backed by billionaire Philip Falcone and his hedge fund Harbinger Capital, filed proposals with the Federal Communications Commission that would help it satisfy interference concerns and allow the company to build its nationwide 4G LTE wholesale network.

Specifically, LightSquared has promised to permanently vacate the upper 10MHz of its radio spectrum. And it said it wouldn't use the lower 10MHz of spectrum until the FCC … Read more

LightSquared's end is near.

The company filed for bankruptcy today, according to Bloomberg, marking an unglamorous end to its attempt to create an upstart provider of super-fast wireless service.

LightSquared was designed as a neutral wholesale provider of 4G LTE service, injecting additional competition into the industry and giving companies an alternative partner to work with. Despite its network in constant jeopardy, it had lined up an impressive list of partners willing to ride on its network.

LightSquared, in a statement, said the company plans to continue its normal operation through the process, and still plans to build its … Read more

Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone is expected to eventually step aside as the public face of LightSquared in an effort to keep the foundering wireless broadband effort from defaulting on debt, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The move is expected to prompt the company's lenders to approve a debt extension that would keep the company from having to file for bankruptcy protection, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. The holders of LightSquared's $1.6 billion in debt have given Falcone until 10 a.m. Monday to strike a deal for restructuring Harbinger's 96 percent equity … Read more

A year ago, hedge fund manager Philip Falcone's LightSquared offered the Federal Communications Commission a huge opportunity to satisfy some of its most lofty wireless broadband goals. Today, the company is facing possible bankruptcy and only the slimmest chance of actually building its network, leaving policy makers in Washington focusing on alternatives.

Earlier this week, Falcone, whose hedge fund Harbinger Capital is the largest stakeholder in LightSquared, told Reuters that bankruptcy protection is one of several options he is considering as he tries to keep the company alive. LightSquared, which has been battling the GPS industry over claims that … Read more

Has the Federal Communications Commission finally learned its lesson on spectrum management?

The FCC began proceedings yesterday that could OK Dish Network's plan to use existing spectrum to build a terrestrial 4G LTE mobile broadband network. The rulemaking follows the agency's earlier rejection of Dish's request for a waiver of license conditions, which prohibit using the spectrum for anything other than satellite-based applications.

The decision to proceed with the slower but more formal process was certainly motivated in part by the recent fiasco involving LightSquared. In January 2011, the FCC granted LightSquared a waiver similar to the … Read more

LightSquared says it's not yet giving up its fight to build a nationwide 4G LTE network.

The company, which is backed by Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital, has invested more than $4 billion into the network, which it hoped would be a wholesale alternative to wireless broadband networks run by AT&T and Verizon wireless. For the past year, the company has been fighting an uphill battle in Washington, D.C., where the GPS industry has rallied political support around its claims that LightSquared's network interferes with its receivers and therefore cannot be built.

So far, the … Read more

LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja has stepped down as the company's chief executive officer.

The decision, announced this morning, does not shed much light as to exactly why Ahuja resigned, but reports have already circulating suggesting it has to do something with the Federal Communication Commission's move to block the launch of its 4G network.

In November, Ahuja spoke at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, arguing that there is a disparity between demand for data and the amount of available spectrum, and that the United States is not ready to handle those problems.

Nevertheless, Ahuja will continue … Read more

LightSquared, the wireless network company recently shot down by the FCC, is looking for a new CEO.

In light of the failure of the company to hold on to its waiver to operate a wireless network in satellite spectrum that is adjacent to GPS signals, the company's CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja, has resigned his post. According to a statement, he will continue to serve as chairman of the company's board.

Philip Falcone, CEO of Harbinger Capital, which contributed to LightSquared's $14 billion funding and who is now joining the company's board, said in the statement, "We … Read more