LightSquared Gears Up For 4G Rollout, Wireless Competition

LightSquared isn't a company that's a household name right now, but it should be. And it will be soon most likely. A new report suggests that the upstart communications company is poised to build out a nationwide 4G network, which would obviously compete with the networks out there already: WiMAX and LTE. Currently, the company owns a big chunk of licensed spectrum and has a billionaire backing them. That means that they had loads of flexibility to take their time and even fail a time or two.

According to the report, the goal is to make money by "selling fast wireless broadband to large established providers who will then resell it to consumers or to local or new providers (such as camera manufacturers, large retailers, and e-reader makers) that are looking for a way to add Internet access to their products without having to build a network to provide it." What would this mean for the U.S. consumer? More choice, and there may even be a new swath of devices and services that can use LightSquared's network as a "dumb pipe," a fact that existing carriers are probably terrified about.


It's hard to say if the company will eventually partner with a carrier that already has a foot in the industry, but we wouldn't be shocked. Building out an expansive wireless network is challenging and expensive, and may not make a lot of sense with 4G technological changes happening at a rapid pace already. Either way, we love the thought of wireless competition, and are definitely excited to see what LightSquared pulls out of their back pocket.