According to fiercewireless.com, Sprint Nextel signed a 15-year deal with LightSquared to build and share the company's nationwide network. The agreement is worth an estimated $20 billion and will secure a spot for Sprint as a wholesale user of LightSquared. Sprint will help to develop, deploy, and operate the new 4G LTE network, according to Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital Partners, which funds lightSquared's project.
Sources such as the Wall Street Jouranl and the New York Times also reported on the partnership, which will make serious waves in the wireless communications industry. Sprint competitors Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility are already in the process of deploying their LTE networks. Sprint's current partner Clearwire provides use of its WiMAX network, but market analysts say the LightSquared partnership is a step back from the long-time agreement. It has also been hypothesized that Sprint will continue its use of WiMAX as a support to its long-term data needs.
The recent reports of GPS interference from LightSquared are somewhat reminiscent of the ten year old reports of Public Safety interference from Sprint, cause of the long, grueling nationwide rebanding project. For the sake of a company that has a significant history of interference with critical infrastructure spectrum, here's to hoping LightSquared is successful in finding solutions to the interference issue.
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