Clearwire resisted Dish’s advances for five months, but it has finally given in. Clearwire’s board recommended today that shareholders give Sprint the old heave-ho and back Dish’s offer to assume a major stake in the WiMAX operator. Read more »
Dish finally has permission to become a full-fledged cellular network operator, though it remains to be seen whether it will actually become one. The FCC also set the wheels rolling for an auction next year of new 4G licenses that Sprint has been eyeing. Read more »
According to the WSJ, Dish Network and Google have been in talks about launching an LTE network. Google would bring cash, while Dish would bring spectrum, but neither company has the infrastructure or expertise to run a mobile carrier. Maybe that’s why Google is interested. Read more »
AT&T aims in three years to have a new LTE network up in the airwaves the FCC just approved for 4G use. In the rather plodding world of telecom, three years is a quick timeline. But AT&T has political and strategic reasons for moving soon. Read more »
The FCC wants to kick off an incentive auction in 2014 that would buy back TV airwaves from the broadcasters and sell them to mobile operators at a premium. The plan isn’t without critics, but in general it was lauded by both consumer groups and carriers. Read more »
A regulatory filing shows Dish invested in $396 million in an unnamed company. Analysts believe that company is Clearwire and that dish could be preparing to partner with the ailing WiMAX provider to build its new LTE network — that is if gets permission to build. Read more »
Dish Network has taken possession of it’s 4G spectrum and it’s ready to deliver its competitive mobile broadband network – in 2016. In a filing with the FCC, Dish basically asked the FCC for the granddaddy of all extensions for turning in its LTE homework assignments. Read more »
Hours away from defaulting on debt, LightSquared filed for bankruptcy protection. The company has said it would use the shelter of Chapter 11 to buy time in its fight to build its nationwide LTE network, but this could just be a prelude to a liquidation of assets. Read more »
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 »
The Federal Communications Commission has denied Dish Network’s request to build a terrestrial LTE network over its satellite airwaves, but it didn’t kill the satellite broadcaster’s proposal outright. Instead, the commission is trying to head off controversy by kicking off a lengthy rule-making process. Read more »
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 »
Report after report points to AT&T marrying Dish Network after Ma Bell’s forced break up with T-Mobile, but given the companies’ increasing belligerence, you wouldn’t think that was the case. What we’re witnessing here is some very cynical pre-nuptial gamesmanship. Read more »
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 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 »
