February 16, 2012 05:39 pm EDT

LightSquared grasps at straws, slams FCC in a statement

To say it's been a bumpy road for LightSquared over recent months would be an understatement. However, developments this week could see the beleaguered company reach a critical fork in the road. On Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration confirmed that LightSquared's planned network would indeed interfere with global positioning systems, and that there was no "practical way" to work around this. The FCC subsequently proposed to indefinitely suspend LightSquared's authority to migrate its satellite spectrum to land-based use. Unsurprisingly, this evoked a less than cheerful response from the troubled startup, which slammed the FCC in a statement, claiming it's "harmed not only LightSquared, but also the American public" and accusing the committee of "the height of bureaucratic irresponsibility." The following day, the Wall Street Journal reported that firm was now making a last-ditch effort to revive hope, by attempting to exchange its wireless licenses for ones similar to those operated by the Department of Defense. Reuters has since reported that contrary to rumors that the company was seeking restructuring advice, hedge fund manager Philip Falcone claims that filing for bankruptcy would be off the cards, defiantly stating "there are other ways around this." As to what these other ways include we're as yet to see, but we admire the optimism.

LightSquared grasps at straws, slams FCC in a statement originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PermalinkSlashGear | Wall Street Journal, Reuters ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/16/lightsqured-grasps-at-straws-slams-fcc-in-a-statement/

View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget