AT&T and Verizon, you are obsolete.

[Devilguns]

LightSquared

http://www.lightsquared.com/

Well it was touched on in Eviltony's DSL post, about wireless internet connectivity. I was watching the news this morning and it was announced that my cable company is on board with Lightsquared. They said Lightsquared is ready to turn on their network.

The equipment is so powerful it's going to (theoretically) knock out commercial gps's:

http://newtstuff.blogspot.com/2011/0...at-to-gps.html


According to the news segment I was watching today, they were given the ok to turn their network on by the government, despite possible GPS interferences. Today is the first I heard of this, I for one am excited about it, I loath both AT&T and Verizon (I'm a Verizon customer). I think this could bring on some much needed competition, and I like how this company thinks about how people actually use the internet. Did anyone else know about this? What are your thoughts?

[BadHabitz]

We'll see. Unless your phone is going to communicate directly to a satellite you have to remember that our current phone companies are the ones that own the cell towers.

[Devilguns]

No it's wireless too.

In September 2010, LightSquared disclosed that both the Nokia Siemens Networks, a leading supplier of telecommunications equipment and services, and the LightSquared boards of directors approved the 8-year, $7 billion agreement for Nokia Siemens Networks to deploy, install, operate and maintain the LightSquared nationwide network. The agreement, the largest of its kind for the U.S. wireless industry, was first announced on July 20, 2010. The nationwide LightSquared network, consisting of approximately 40,000 cellular base stations, will cover 92 percent of the U.S. population by 2015.

LightSquared-enabled devices including data cards, embedded modules, personal hotspots, and routers will launch during the second half of 2011. By 2012, LightSquared’s service will expand to include Smartphones and other innovative next generation devices.

The LTE standard provides an ecosystem advantage and a superior user experience. From a technology perspective, LTE has a maximum data rate—over 100 MB/second—which enables LightSquared to offer more immediate communication with minimal delay and faster upload and download speeds.

[WalkinTarget]

Ehh, promises, promises. Any good thing can be squashed when it involves venture capitalists to this extent:

http://www.fiercewireless.com/specia...s-lte-launch-d

[mapes]

We'll see. Unless your phone is going to communicate directly to a satellite you have to remember that our current phone companies are the ones that own the cell towers.

Not really the problem. The problem is the way the FCC allocates spectrum to providers. It's done via an auction system on a per geographical area. To be honest I think par t of the problem with the system is the cost and also its exclusionary. So competitors have to license spectrum from each other for certain areas