Sprint Goes to Bed with LightSquared

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.

FCC: Indiana Fights to Continue Rebanding

On April 4, the FCC released its order dismissing the State of Indiana's Petition for Reconsideration regarding its dispute with Sprint-Nextel.  The dispute arose when the FCC ruled to force the State to end or alter an existing contract after Sprint-Nextel acquired quotes from Enterprise Wireless Alliance (EWA) at a quarter of the agreed-upon costs of licensing for rebanding the State's system.  The FCC ruled that despite Sprint having previously agreed to the cost, despite the existing contract between the State and its communications consultant, and despite the conflict of interest regarding EWA's quote, the TA's price metrics dictate that previously agreed-upon price has now become too high, since Sprint sought out a lower price bid.

The State defended its existing contract, based on components surrounding the nature of the work, and the terms of the previous agreement.  Some key points include:

• A board member from EWA is also a high-ranking employee of Sprint-Nextel, which is a serious conflict of interest.
• The Mobile-Sierra Doctrine states that federal agencies shall not interfere with existing private contracts, unless it has been proven that the terms of the contract have a significantly negative impact on public interest. This precedence was set by a case concerning the Federal Power Commission.  Despite the recent reaffirmation of the doctrine in regards to another agency (the Maine Public Utilities Commission), the the Order holds that the doctrine is irrelevant to the FCC and is specific only to the Federal Power Commission's organic statute. 
• EWA does not currently provide services for public safety agencies, nor has it in the past, therefore it is unusual for them to offer a quote.
• EWA is not familiar with practices surrounding public safety licensing, demonstrated by their attempt to charge for the quote (unheard of in the public safety sector).
• EWA did not participate in the original bidding process, which provides an opportunity for any interested vendors to offer quotes for services.
• The services provided by State's chosen consultant include more than just "administrative tasks," as the FCC has described.

Compelling arguments were disregarded at the FCC, and the Petition was dismissed due to the failure to conform to regulations regarding the evidence presented.  The Commission claims the new evidence submitted should have been brought up earlier.  Also, arguments and evidence already discussed are not considered.  The order revisited the Commission's reasons for ruling in favor of Sprint-Nextel earlier in the dispute, based on the nature of the original Change Notice filed by the State in attempt to cover its rebanding costs.

EMR's President Sandra Black will soon be releasing her statement of comment on the decision here on EMR Emissions.

See the text of the Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsiderations here. A complete list of documents from the dispute will soon be available here.