LightSquared was supposed to change everything. In the summer of 2010 they announced that they were going to build a nationwide 4G LTE network that they’d then let businesses resell to consumers. To put it another way, they wanted to be a wholesale “dumb pipe”, and the people in charge even used that phrase when describing themselves. Here’s the problem: the spectrum LightSquared own sits dangerously close to the same spectrum that GPS satellites use. Multiple rounds of testing came to the same conclusion, that if LightSquared turned on their network, it would effectively make every passenger jet in the sky fall out of the air. LightSquared protested, lobbied, tried to do everything in their power to convince the FCC that they’re not going to harm anyone, but the government isn’t having any of it. They don’t want to see LightSquared get off he ground. Recently there have been talks that LightSquared could be allowed to swap their spectrum holdings with the defense department, but those are just rumors for now.
Anyway, you’d think that a wireless operators who isn’t allowed to to build a wireless network isn’t going to get very far, right? You’re correct, the company filed for bankruptcy. According to Bloomberg however, the people who have given LightSquared money are going to let them continue operating until September 2013. Why that artificial date? We can’t tell you. Is some sort of miracle going to happen between now and the next 15 months? We severely doubt it.
So who should you root for in terms of disrupting the wireless landscape? Dish Network says they’re going to build an LTE-Advnaced network (5G?), but they admit that it likely isn’t going to go live for at least another three to four years. So with that … guess AT&T and Verizon are free to continue their reign of terror.
[Via: Light Reading]