ORLANDO, Fla. – Saying that “too many devices and too little spectrum” have put the wireless industry “on track to run out of network capacity … threatening future innovation and job creation,” LightSquared chairman Sanjiv Ahuja told a packed auditorium at the RCA Spring Expo that LightSquared will “contine to fight to launch an intergrated nationwide 4G LTE network. It is simply too important an issue to abandon.”
Last month the Federal Communications Commission denied LightSquared’s access to the spectrum the company proposed to use to roll out a wholesale nationwide LTE network. That spectrum has traditionally been used by satellites, and the FCC said that interference with some GPS equipment would be unavoidable if LightSquared moves forward. The company subsequently laid off about half its workforce.
This month LightSquared submitted a new filing to the FCC, saying that the agency “has relied upon flawed and biased tests,” and cannot legally block LightSquared’s plans because the plan is consistent with existing FCC rules.
Ahuja offered his thanks to RCA President and CEO Steve Berry, who has advocated for LightSquared with the FCC. LightSquared’s proposal to wholesale broadband access is of particular interest to rural carriers, who may not have the resources to build their own LTE networks. Ahuja said that LightSquared still plans to sell to retail distribution partners, and will never compete with carrier customers for consumer business. He said that LightSquared’s network will work with “any device, any network, any company.”
Follow me on Twitter.
