FCC to Kill Off LightSquared's 4G Dream

LightSquared, the company that hoped to develop a wholesale 4G LTE wireless broadband communications network with satellite coverage across the United States, will be suspended indefinitely by the Federal Communication Commission.

The FCC plans to suspend the company’s conditional waiver to operate as a ground-based broadband network after a new government report said it didn’t appear that there would be an immediate way for the network to avoid interference with global positioning systems (GPS).

A key conditional waiver was granted to LightSquared in January 2011 that was meant to help fast-track the network. However, this waiver was met with much controversy as it drew protests from the military and weather forecasters who rely heavily on GPS.

Experts do not expect a resolution to be made before LightSquared loses money and partners, such as Sprint Nextel.

LightSquared plans of a wholesale 4G LTE network had the potential to threaten the way wireless business was conducted. They planned to act as a neutral wholesaler of the wireless provider, and if any company was looking to offer 4G service, they could go to LightSquared.

Consumers would have also benefited from the wave of new companies that could have offered service through LightSquared’s wholesale network.

Read more about LightSquared and its partnership with Sprint in this earlier article.

Source: The Washington Post