After the announcement of a 15-year, multibillion dollar agreement with Sprint Nextel, LightSquared announced last week that it signed its 14th multiyear wholesale agreement- with VoX Communications.
According to Frank Boulben, LightSquared's chief marketing officer, the company is currently the only carrier offering 4G LTE on a wholesale basis, making them attractive to customers across the country hoping to compete with AT&T and Verizon 4G.
LightSquared is reportedly in contract negotiations with 22 other entities and initial talks with 30 others. The company's nationwide broadband network is scheduled to launch during the second half of 2012. Where 4G is not available during deployment, customers will be able to use Sprint's 3G network, enabling nationwide coverage even if deployment is not yet complete.
LightSquared has signed agreements with wireless carriers that lack a 4G migration path but are still hoping to compete with Verizon and AT&T and with some wireline communication providers. Internet service providers and some retailers such as Best Buy have expressed interest. The previously offered satellite push-to-talk services for Public Safety will continue from LightSquared, and the company plans to enhance this capability with push-to-talk offered via applications over LTE. The goal is to offer all of these capabilities on a single device powered by Qualcomm chipsets and possibly other vendors. The cost of ownership for first responders carrying two handsets would be decrased with one unified device offering regular cell service, data, and satellite service.
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