LightSquared Withholds $56.3 Million Payment to U.K.’s Inmarsat
LightSquared to Be Blocked by U.S. on Interference Report
“Yesterday, after LightSquared had already spent nearly $4 billion, the FCC changed its mind,” LightSquared Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Ahuja said. “There can be no more devastating blow to private industry and confidence in the consistency of the FCC’s decision-making process.” Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
“Yesterday, after LightSquared had already spent nearly $4 billion, the FCC changed its mind,” LightSquared Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Ahuja said. “There can be no more devastating blow to private industry and confidence in the consistency of the FCC’s decision-making process.” Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and sponsor of an amendment to the Senate-passed Stock Act that would regulate collection of "political intelligence" from political insiders, talks about the House version of the bill, which excludes the provision. Grassley, speaking with Peter Cook on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop," also discusses his concern over the Federal Communications Commission's handling of LightSquared Inc.'s wireless venture. (Source: Bloomberg)
Philip Falcone’s LightSquared Inc. (SKYT), the U.S. company struggling to gain approval for a wireless service, failed to pay British satellite operator Inmarsat Plc (ISAT) $56.3 million under a spectrum-cooperation accord.
Inmarsat issued a notice of default under the companies’ cooperation agreement, giving LightSquared 60 days to remedy the payment, the London-based satellite operator said in a statement today. In a separate statement, LightSquared said that Inmarsat must fulfil certain obligations tied to the deployment of its terrestrial and satellite network and that “several matters” need to be resolved. It didn’t give more details.
LightSquared, based in Reston, Virginia, had been making a series of scheduled payments to the British company in line with contractual milestones, Inmarsat said.
Inmarsat, the biggest provider of satellite services to the maritime industry, is giving LightSquared access to part of its spectrum. LightSquared, backed by Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, wants to offer high-speed Internet service to as many as 260 million people using airwaves previously reserved mainly for satellites.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said last week that it would block LightSquared after finding that the wireless venture would disrupt navigation gear.
The FCC is preparing to withdraw the preliminary approval it granted last year for the company to build a high-speed network serving as many as 260 million people, Tammy Sun, an FCC spokeswoman, said last week. The FCC’s action is a blow to LightSquared and a setback for Harbinger Capital Partners (SKYT), which has invested $3 billion in the venture.
To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Thiel in London at sthiel1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
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