US terrestrial/satellite venture LightSquared intends to accelerate its ground infrastructure roll-out schedule by more than a year, according to chief marketing officer Frank Boulben.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance on the sidelines of the Mobile World…
US terrestrial/satellite venture LightSquared intends to accelerate its ground infrastructure roll-out schedule by more than a year, according to chief marketing officer Frank Boulben.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Boulben said he was confident LightSquared would meet milestones agreed with the FCC much earlier than planned.
This would mean the group’s network, which is being built by European vendor Nokia Siemens Networks, could be able to cover 260 million people in the US by 2014.
As part of conditions tied to the venture’s ATC licence, it must be capable of covering at least 100 million people in the US by 31 December 2012, at least 145 million people by the end of December the following year, and at least 260 million people by 31 December 2015.
Boulben’s comments came just days after LightSquared announced the successful post launch testing and acceptance of its first satellite, Sky Terra 1, from satellite contractor Boeing.
A technical fault had initially prevented Sky Terra 1 from fully extending its 22 metre L-band antenna after the bird’s launch on 14 November last year. However, after a team of experts were assembled by Boeing and antenna maker Harris, the issue was finally resolved on 14 December when it was able to resume full operations.
But it’s still not all clear sailing for the venture. Satellite operator Inmarsat and some Federal agencies, including the Department of Defence, have expressed concerns that LightSquared’s terrestrial network could cause GPS and GNSS interference.
These concerns were officially raised by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on January 12, prompting LightSquared to commit up to US$20m to research ways to remove any potential problem.
Boulben said he was “confidently positive” the interference concerns will be addressed satisfactorily. He added that LightSquared wants to get this right as most of its customers will use GPS capable devices and that the company is engaged in active cooperation with all parties involved and is reporting to the FCC on a monthly basis
Meanwhile, the industry is waiting to hear what LightSquared’s owners, hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, intends to spend the £421m proceeds it raised from selling its remaining 14% stake in Inmarsat.
Although Harbinger is widely expected to use the cash on its satellite/terrestrial project, it could also be used to fund the hedge fund’s battle to control beleaguered operator Terrestar Networks, which is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
