After more than a year of testing and active debate LightSquared's plans for 4 G network nationwide, wholesale, the company is now bankrupt may end up as nothing more than a cautionary tale for investors.
Industry observers say there are three things that can bring some value to the main LightSquared's piece of spectrum radio assets, argued: the exchange company could block other spectrum, sell it to other operators or won a lawsuit against the U.s. Federal Communications Commission. But the third is not possible, they said.
LightSquared bankruptcy protection on Monday, claiming assets of US $ 4.48 billion and debt of $ 2.29 billion. Long negotiations with the lender that failed to produce an agreement on how to handle debt. Philip Falcone, Harbinger Capital Partners has most LightSquared, said in a statement that bankruptcy will give you more time to gain approval for the network. In its bankruptcy filing on Monday, the company acknowledged that getting permission to build a network can take two years, predictions of some analysts say optimistic.
LightSquared and company predecessor has won approval from the FCC to start a mobile data LTE network using spectrum in the frequency used by the GPS. Planned to sell access to the networks that wholesale prices for other operators, along with service on the satellite that was already in the air. But the waiver that allowed the companies that sell those services separately conditioned on completing the interference that might affect the GPS. Based on tests that showed the disturbance continues, the FCC said in February it would kill LightSquared's LTE plans.
With the approval of the FCC, spectrum has been given to LightSquared's's predecessor companies without the auction will have turned into commodities much more valuable, because the data provider is much more popular than the original goal, the spectrum of mobile satellite services. But like the Falcone study, not all mobile transactions are sure bets.
