Rating the legacy of outgoing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said he was stepping down from the role today. Let’s take a look back and see how he did against our hopes for him back in 2009. Read more »
SEC charges LightSquared’s biggest backer with fraud
Phlip Falcone, the head of the private equity firm that invested billions in LightSquared has been charged with fraud. The SEC said it was changing the founder of Harbinger Capital Partners with misappropriating client assets, market manipulation, and betraying clients. Read more »
LightSquared’s bankruptcy is Washington’s failure too
LightSquared’s bankruptcy is the conclusion of a process that is rigged against broadband competition. Maybe it would have failed for economic reasons, but before it got the chance it fell victim to politics, spectrum warfare, and interests that don’t want more wireless competition. Read more »
Subscriber Content
A look back at mobile in Q1
Smartphone sales surged both in the U.S. and worldwide, carriers struggled to cope with the ever-increasing consumption of mobile data, and the fight for spectrum remained front and center in the first quarter. Our latest quarterly wrap-up analyzes these trends and more. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
What does a bankrupt LightSquared have to offer? Not much.
LightSquared’s backer, Philip Falcone, explained on Thursday his rationale for a voluntary bankruptcy filing for the planned wholesale LTE network, but given the paucity of actual assets in LightSquared, and the fact that Falcone has invested billions so far into LightSquared, this is almost a no-brainer. Read more »
LightSquared to FCC: You owe us spectrum
If the FCC won’t let LightSquared launch LTE in its satellite spectrum, then the carrier wants the commission to find its network an alternate home on the airwaves. LightSquared still claims its 4G network will leave GPS unharmed, but it’s willing to consider a spectrum swap. Read more »
Clearwire: Just give us one more year on LTE
We’ll have to wait another year for the LTE network Clearwire has long been promising. At its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, Clearwire CEO Erik Prusch said the WiMAX carrier’s first batch of 5,000 LTE cell sites will be switched by June of 2013. Read more »
FCC puts the kibosh on LightSquared’s LTE plans
After a year of LightSquared fighting GPS industry and government agencies over whether its network would interfere with GPS receivers, the Federal Communications Commission dropped the hammer Tuesday evening, saying it would revoke the would-be carrier’s terrestrial network waiver. Read more »
In a suspect move, LightSquared calls for GPS design standards
LightSquared has asked the FCC n to impose future standards on GPS device design, claiming such requirements would allow GPS and its LTE network to co-exist peacefully. While LightSquared would appear to be taking the middle path, the proposal smacks of a political stunt. Read more »
Can Carl Icahn pick up the pieces of LightSquared?
Carl Icahn has been quietly buying up LightSquared’s debt a rock bottom prices, which would put the activist investor in position to take over the company in the increasingly likely event of bankruptcy. But would there be anything left of LightSquared to salvage? Read more »
LightSquared accuses GPS industry of rigging the evidence
LightSquared accused the commercial GPS industry of “rigging” government tests on the potential GPS interference problems of its LTE network and called for new rounds of tests from independent labs with no participation from GPS device makers. Read more »
Federal agency recommends killing LightSquared LTE plans
PNT ExComm, the federal agency overseeing the national GPS satellite network, has concluded that any LTE network LightSquared would build, no matter how much it scales back its transmission power, would interfere with GPS devices nationwide. LightSquared’s hopes of building its network are quickly dwindling. Read more »
Sprint details first LTE launch cities, expansion plans
Sprint will launch LTE in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and six other smaller markets by mid-2011, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse revealed Thursday. He also went into more detail about how it planned to grow its initial low-bandwidth LTE network into a big fat one. Read more »
Sprint gives LightSquared a reprieve, but is it enough?
Sprint has given its partner LightSquared 30 days to get regulators to green-light the launch of its controversial 4G service, but it may not be enough. If Sprint pulls out of the network-sharing deal, LightSquared’s costs multiply, almost certainly killing its rollout plans. Read more »
The next broadband battle: AT&T/Dish and Verizon/Cable
The business model for standalone wholesale wireless network operators is broken. But in the coming year a new and ultimately more successful model is poised to emerge, transforming the entire communications landscape as we know it Tim Farrar of Telecom, Media, and Finance Associates, Inc. explains. Read more »
Without FCC approval, bankruptcy looms for LightSquared
LightSquared isn’t just fighting the government and the GPS industry for the right to build its nationwide LTE network; it’s also fighting the clock. In a financial statement released to Reuters, LightSquared revealed it may run out of cash early next year. Read more »
LightSquared Defends Itself Against Report That Claims GPS Interference
The U.S. government dealt a blow Wednesday to LightSquared’s hopes of building a national LTE network, concluding that the proposed network… Read more at paidContent »
LightSquared makes more concessions to save LTE plans
LightSquared is giving up more of its network ambitions in hopes of winning FCC approval to launch LTE, but if it concedes too much it may find itself with no network left to build. That would be just fine with LightSquared’s critics in the GPS industry. Read more »
LightSquared struggles to save network after leaked GPS report
LightSquared is fighting for the life of its LTE network, as a government report emerging later this week questions if there’s any way its 4G network can coexist with millions of GPS devices. If the report’s findings stand, the repercussions could be felt throughout the industry. Read more »
Subscriber Content
The time is finally right for MVNOs in the U.S.
The U.S. MVNO market is now largely a niche where a handful of companies provide phones and services on the cheap. But several notable new players are joining the space next year and will provide a different, more-specialized kind of service; network operators could benefit in ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Net neutrality vote shows Washington is off the rails
The Senate failed to stop the network neutrality rules enacted by the FCC. But for anyone who watched the hearings or sees how the vote split completely along partisan lines, the vote is a reminder of how easily the folks in D.C. can stymie innovation. Read more »
Sprint looks to Clearwire to firm up LTE plans
After laying out an aggressive LTE 4G deployment plan that didn’t include existing partner Clearwire, Sprint is now saying it is working with the 4G wholesaler toward a commercial agreement that will allow it to offload some of its LTE needs onto Clearwire’s future LTE network. Read more »
Subscriber Content
The future of mobile: a segment analysis by GigaOM Pro
As our demand for data increases, so too do the number of mobile devices and services. Add to that the infrastructure needed to support such connectivity, and a wide, complex picture of the mobile industry emerges. This report examines the various sectors of the mobile landscape and what the future holds for each. Hardware, cloud services, mobile search, advertising, location-based services and the growing ubiquity of the Internet of Things will all play an important role in the concept of mobility as it shifts and evolves over the next several years. With the help of more than a dozen contributors, GigaOM Pro presents a comprehensive analysis of the companies and trends that will lead us into the next era of mobile. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Two Obama scandals blend risky tech, politics and money
President Obama’s gotten hit with a one-two punch in recent weeks with two scandals that share some surprising similarities surrounding risky tech startups, politics, money and the question of how to create innovation around infrastructure, one for energy and the other for communications. Read more »
The challenges for wholesale network operators
Amid the political fighting over LightSquared and whether or not it will interfere with GPS, there’s a far larger issue: Can the nascent carrier really build a business as a wholesale carrier? History offers some perspective that maybe it can’t. Read more »
When politics and tech collide, everyone loses
The political drama around the Obama administration’s efforts to bring a competitive wireless broadband alternative to the nation are roiled in a technical and now a political debate. The drama centers around LightSquared, and whether or not the White House influenced testimony from a four-star general. Read more »
Following LightSquared, Dish ups the ante in spectrum speculation
photo: Flickr / Dave Lindblom
Do we really think that Dish wants to build an LTE-Advanced mobile broadband network? I know that it filed a waiver asking the FCC to grant it the ability to use its satellite spectrum to deliver such a network, but let’s get real for a moment. Read more »
Clearwire’s LTE plans reinvent the mobile operator
Clearwire’s shift to LTE is not just a move away from WiMAX, but it cements Clearwire’s shift in strategy from being a retail operator to a wholesale provider – a change that has been coming for a while.What must it do to make this transition pay off? Read more »
Clearwire planning LTE-Advanced with 120 Mbps trials
After building a WiMAX network in the U.S., Clearwire plans to leverage its current infrastructure and roll out an LTE-Advanced mobile broadband service. The new network has shown 120 Mbps wireless downloads in trials, and will be targeted in areas where Clearwire already has WiMAX equipment. Read more »
Pre-paid, wholesale subs keep Sprint afloat ahead of LTE
Sprint reported record low churn rates and its highest average revenue per user yet, but lost $847 million. Why? Although 1.1 million new subscribers were added, all were from wholesale and pre-paid customers. Postpaid subscriber numbers may turn around in the future though, thanks to LTE. Read more »
LightSquared to buy 4G from Sprint for billions
The much rumored and much talked about deal between Sprint Nextel and LightSquared has finally come to fruition, the two companies announced Thursday. LightSquared says that this deal will lower its expenses by more than $13 billion. Here is the breakdown of the deal: Read more »
LightSquared gets $265M as the FCC weighs its fate
LightSquared, the company betting it all on a wholesale 4G wireless broadband network, said Tuesday it has raised $265 million from existing and new investors. None of the investors were named, but it brings LightSquared’s total funding to $2.3 billion just in the last year. Read more »
LightSquared interferes with GPS, so now what?
LightSquared filed a reporton Thursday that shows that its planned wholesale LTE wireless network would interfere with existing GPS equipment, and suggested a three-part plan to resolve the issue. The report, filed with the FCC, could throw the operation of LightSquared’s network into some doubt. Read more »
Did Sprint really get in bed with LightSquared?
LightSquared, the company trying to build a wholesale 4G wireless network using a mix of FCC waivers, satellite spectrum, a to-be-built terrestrial network and a helluva lot of gumption may have signed a deal with Sprint. Read more »
Sprint: It’s Becoming the “Other Mobile Network”
Cox Cable says it plans to shut down its wireless network according to Fierce Wireless, which published a story this afternoon citing Cox spokesman David Deliman who said the cable company will “soon” decommission its 3G network and use Sprint for its service. Read more »
Sprint and Clearwire Kiss and Make Up. But Where’s WiMAX?
Clearwire has resolved its wholesale agreement dispute with Sprint, signing a deal that calls for Sprint to pay Clearwire about $1 billion over the next two years. The deal removes some uncertainty for struggling Clearwire and helps forge a stronger bond with Sprint, its majority owner. Read more »
Welcome to a New Era of Spectrum Speculation
LightSquared, the company trying to create a wholesale fourth generation wireless network is thinking about an initial public offering. Is the company is planning to take investors for a ride using the current spectrum crisis as cover for a questionable business plan? Read more »
For LightSquared No Network Is No Problem
For a mobile operator without a network or handset, LightSquared has struck a lot of deals, and been associated with some big name partners. AT&T even mentioned it as a viable mobile broadband competitor in its conference call to discuss its plans to buy T-Mobile. Why? Read more »
With LightSquared, Did the FCC Bet on the Wrong Horse?
Things are looking up for LightSquared, the company trying to build a wholesale LTE network. It scored a $586 million loan, got a huge waiver from the FCC and some unnamed customers. Yet, its network buildout has slowed and it picked a fight with the Pentagon. Read more »
It’s Not Looking Good for LightSquared’s Planned LTE Network
A plan to bring a nationwide wholesale LTE network to the U.S. is in trouble. LightSquared has a troubled private equity backer and may be losing ground in Washington as it seeks a way around regulations that are making its planned network a long shot. Read more »
