Hello! And welcome to our Friday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
I have to admit, it has taken nearly all of my willpower to remain neutral on the subject of LightSquared and how the company is managing to remain a viable option in launching a wholesale LTE network. Here is a company that is using satellite’s as part of their network coverage for a wholesale mobile broadband network using spectrum that seems to be nothing but a headache and a network that it seems the company lacks the financial resources to build.
Satellites?!? Wholesale?!? GPS interference?!? Lack of money?!? Did I mention a satellite?!?
And yet the folks at LigthSquared keep chugging along. Amazing!
Sure, the whole operation looks to have much in common with that old standard for futility in the mobile industry, NextWave Telecom, but with the added benefit of those pesky GPS interference issues and a satellite. (One more time … a satellite?!?)
Don’t get me wrong. As a reporter this whole LightSquared thing is a dream. But like I said, a dream that is testing my attempts to remain neutral on the matter.
Of course, having heard numerous executives from the LightSquared fold explain how this time it’s different and that they can really make a go of it with a wholesale model, you would almost think it’s possible.
But, I have also talked with numerous people throughout the industry who are way smarter than myself (no laughing) who can’t believe the industry is ready to support such an operation, especially one that will rely on some 40,000 cell sites and a satellite.
Despite what would appear to be enough issues to keep just about anyone from wanting to get out of bed in the morning, LightSquared came out swinging this week in its delayed filing with the Federal Communications Commission in regards to the GPS interference issues.
In short the company said that it will use a different spectrum band further away from those being used by GPS devices, but at the same time noted that some of the interference blame is squarely at the feet of those device makers.
I found this very refreshing to see LightSquared hit back and I am sure that was an accusation the folks at LightSquared were hoping they were not going to have to use. Up to this point LightSquared was acting very cordial towards the GPS community, a community that has been bolstered by the explosive proliferation of GPS-enabled devices.
But, with what would appear to be its future on the line, LightSquared took an aggressive position in hopes of deflecting some of the interference blame.
While I am not sure how that will play amongst the masses or in Washington, D.C., at least it again showed the fight and determination from the LightSquared folks. I can only hope this soap opera has a long shelf life and that we can continue to bask in its free-for-all glory for a little while longer. Or at least long enough for them to launch another satellite into space.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
–The FCC came out with its annual competition report on the wireless space this week that in its 308 pages came to the conclusion that the mobile industry may or may not be competitive. Well done. Coming to that sort of conclusion would have taken me at least 309 pages.
The report did note that urban areas are the site of fierce competition amongst mobile players, while rural markets are far less competitive, especially when it comes to mobile broadband services. Though I will say that having used mobile broadband services in many urban areas has left me with the feeling that maybe having less access to these services is a good thing for one’s mental health and could be a source as to the serene nature I have found in parts of rural America.
Of course, all of this comes on the heels of AT&T’s planned $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA, which may or may not make the mobile space more or less competitive. It would appear that there is nothing like ambiguity to reinforce the notion that all is right in the world.
–Sort of off-topic from the wireless space, but news came down this week that News Corp. unloaded MySpace for the equivalent of a bag of hockey pucks.
The demise of MySpace would appear to be a warning tale for the social media crowd that looks to have the same fervor demonstrated by the .com boom more than a decade ago. It seemed only yesterday that you could not take a breath without someone shouting out their MySpace page to you, but after doing a bit of fact checking I found that it was actually the day before yesterday.
My guess is that despite the current fascination with all things Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, that there are people already writing the obituaries for such operations.
Also, well done News Corp. in again showing that the best way in life to become a millionaire is to start out as a billionaire. Though I guess when you have the deep pockets of News Corp. real money is more of a theory than an actuality.
–And finally, earlier this week I offered my $.02 on the “Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act” served up by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), which looks to clarify the notion of “4G” for consumers.
Quick summary: Maybe we should let the wireless industry itself figure out what “4G” means before trying to explain it to consumers.
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