The hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners will be purchasing the satellite operator SkyTerra and using the satellite network to create a nationwide 4G network based on Long-Term Evolution technology.
The company will be using about 23 MHz of spectrum throughout the 1.4 GHz and 1.6 GHz terrestrial band and the 10 MHz of the satellite L-band to create this new network. The initial deployment is expected to launch in the third quarter of 2011, covering 9 million people. The group is trying to cover 100 million people by the end of 2012, 145 by the end of 2013, and nearly the entire United States by the end of 2015.
This will put it roughly on par with Verizon Wireless’ LTE rollout, which is expected to be deployed in about 30 markets this year, with an eventual nationwide coverage by 2014 or so. Sprint continues to deploy its WiMax network and it just introduced the first 4G handset in the United States, and the Clearwire infrastructure team said it could switch to LTE with a software upgrade, if necessary. As for AT&T and T-Mobile, both are focusing on maximizing its 3G networks before diving into 4G, although both are tentatively planning to use LTE.
The interesting thing about SkyTerra’s upcoming LTE network is that it won’t be a direct competitor to the carriers because it will be offering wholesale services to other providers. AT&T and Verizon could potentially use this network if it needs extra capacity, and this would a perfect fit for T-Mobile, which is looking for a boost in spectrum. Federal Communications Commission strings to the spectrum say the big guys can only get up to 25% of the service, so there will be plenty of room for honest-to-goodness competition in the mobile data space.
[Via GigaOm]