Ed Morrissey
HotAir.com
1/3/2012
William Amos forwarded me this curious update to the Lightsquared saga, one that looks as though their partners are beginning to look elsewhere for their strategic planning. On the heels of failing their NTIA tests and renewed opposition to an FCC variance from military, aviation, and commercial GPS users, Sprint gave LightSquared a 30-day extension to their agreement to get FCC approval for a commercial rollout:
Sprint Nextel Corp. said Sunday it gave billionaire Philip Falcone’s LightSquared Inc. wireless venture a 30-day extension to a Dec. 31 deadline to get Federal Communications Commission clearance to operate its network.
Getting FCC clearance is a condition of a 15-year fourth-generation spectrum-and-equipment-sharing accord between the two companies. LightSquared has said the Sprint accord will help it save $13 billion through the end of this decade.
LightSquared has been buffeted by criticism from lawmakers, the Defense Department and device manufacturers who say the company’s airwaves can jam global-positioning-system signals.
Why a 30-day extension? That’s probably not enough time for the FCC to even consider the petition filed last month by LightSquared that essentially tells everyone using the current GPS technology to replace all of their equipment, let alone address the wrath of the Pentagon and the FAA if they do…
The article, with related links, continues at HotAir.com
