Professional Land Surveyor News

More Bad News for LightSquared From Sprint and President Obama

The Bad, The Ugly and The LightScrewed

Professional Land Surveyor News
Professional Land Surveyor News

News from around the web today was not good for LightSquared. Earlier this week, I wrote Sprint Grants LightSquared 30 More Days for FCC Approval, Has Another Wheel Fallen Off LightSquared’s Wagon?, and today it seems that possibly the Lightsquared wagon’s axle is now broken too.

The bad news today for LightSquared included news that Sprint Nextel Corp. put on hold its partnership investment with LightSquared and revelations that LightSquared’s planned implementation in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 signed by President Obama on December 31st.

LightSquared News Updates From Around the Web

“Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) — Sprint Nextel Corp. put its investment in a partnership with LightSquared Inc. on hold as the wireless venture seeks an operating license from U.S. regulators, Sprint Chief Executive Officer Dan Hesse said…”

“It ain’t over ’till the fat lady sings and, in this case, she’s still taking a very deep breath. After granting potential partner LightSquared a 30-day extension to gain final FCC approval for its LTE spectrum, Sprint is now pulling back from the 15-year resource sharing agreement that would…”

“The latest turn is that Hesse has told investors that Sprint is putting further investment in LTE partner LightSquared on hold. A Sprint spokesman elaborated, saying “The companies have agreed to realigning our deployment timeline to coincide with FCC actions.” That may seem like unimportant money shifting, but it’s a bad sign given LightSquared’s difficulty…”

“Language buried deep in the recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 could further delay LightSquared’s launch of a nationwide wireless data network. The clause, added to the 500-page bill at the bequest of Reps. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) and Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from approving LightSquared’s request to begin…”

“Recently, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington obtained more than 13,000 documents relating to LightSquared from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), a critical Washington, D.C., “gatekeeper.” Going through the whole information dump could take weeks, but so far telecoms industry technology expert consultant Tim Farrar has pinpointed items that show clearly how official attitudes toward LightSquared have changed over time…”

“NEWS ANALYSIS: A U.S. defense spending bill signed by President Barack Obama includes provisions that require LightSquared’s wireless LTE network to meet congressional guidelines aimed at preventing GPS interference before the Federal Communications Commission can approve its operation…”