US terrestrial/satellite venture LightSquared has secured a US$586m loan with UBS and JPMorgan to help accelerate the roll out of its ground infrastructure.
The deal means LightSquared has raised more than US$2bn in debt and equity over the last seven…
US terrestrial/satellite venture LightSquared has secured a US$586m loan with UBS and JPMorgan to help accelerate the roll out of its ground infrastructure.
The deal means LightSquared has raised more than US$2bn in debt and equity over the last seven months, according to the company in a statement announcing the loan’s closure on 22 February.
“Our investors share our belief that now is the time for a wholesale model to succeed, as we will bring desperately-needed 4G capacity to businesses, consumers, government and public safety users through a wide variety of retail partners which will sell services based on our integrated terrestrial and satellite network,” said CEO Sanjiv Ahuja.
Speaking to TelecomFinance on 16 February, CMO Frank Boulben said the venture plans to accelerate its terrestrial deployment by more than a year.
This could mean the group’s network, which is being built by European vendor NSN, will be able to cover 260 million people in the US by 2014.
Boulben also confirmed wholesale agreements with five customers: two carriers, a device manufacturer, a national retailer and a website.
