Every company who is absolutely going to be around for a long time to come, please step forward.
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Every company who is absolutely going to be around for a long time to come, please step forward.
The Feds came down hard on the aspiring wireless company LightSquared yesterday. The Federal Communications Commission indefinitely suspended LightSquared’s license to operate as a terrestrial wireless network. LightSquared has long been seeking to operate as a hybrid with satellite capability as well as traditional ground towers but the plan has met with protests from the GPS industry as well as the military who say that the portion of the spectrum the company plans to use would interfere with other signals. Put simply, not enough room on that part of the dial.
Yesterday, the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a new report saying that there was interference and no practical way to address the interference to the point where smooth operations would be guaranteed for all. That report was all the FCC needed to pull the license and, in the eyes of many, pretty much kill LightSquared. LightSquared is protesting, saying that the methodology was flawed.
What does it mean for you? You might have had another alternative to the very slim number of wireless providers. Now you won’t.
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