"Harbinger Unveils 4G Terrestrial-Satellite Network Venture

In a second development that relates to the mobile satellite service (MSS) industry, Harbinger Capital Partners announced plans on Tuesday to deploy a nationwide, fourth-generation (4G) wireless broadband network that would offer both satellite and terrestrial coverage to 92% of the U.S population by 2015.

Following on its acquisition of MSS provider SkyTerra Communications (and SkyTerra’s 59 MHz swath of nationwide spectrum) earlier this year, Harbinger has formed a new venture, known as LightSquared, which will construct a network of 40,000 base stations that will operate in tandem with two MSS satellites.

Together, the base stations and satellites will provide wholesale customers at nearly any location within the U.S. with advanced wireless service capacity that is based on 4G long term evolution (LTE) technology. As such, LightSquared is slated to compete against the future LTE network of
Verizon Communications (which is scheduled for launch later this year) as well as against the Sprint-Nextel Clearwire network that already offers WiMax 4G services in various markets nationwide. A contract to build and maintain the LightSquared network was also
awarded this week to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) in an eight-year, $7 billion deal that was described by NSN CEO Rajeev Suri as “the largest-ever outsourced deployment of a wireless network in the United States.” Sources also note that LightSquared has secured $1.75 billion in debt and equity financing from Harbinger to fund network deployment.

As Harbinger CEO Phillip Falcone termed the debut of LightSquared as “a significant milestone in the industry and for Harbinger,”

Sanjiv Ahuja, the newly-installed chairman of LightSquared, predicted that the new network “will return our country to its rightful position as a leader in wireless broadband
technology.”

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