Reston, Va., Dec. 7, 2011 — Testing conducted by an independent laboratory (Alcatel-Lucent) has confirmed that several major high-precision receivers, including those developed by GPS pioneer, Javad GNSS, are 100 percent compatible with LightSquared’s network. These results show that LightSquared is well on its way to demonstrating that GPS interference issues have been resolved.
Today, LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja will provide an update on the significant progress the company has made in solving the GPS interference problem, which is caused by faulty devices looking into spectrum licensed to LightSquared. The testing results come at a time when demand for LightSquared’s network is growing among companies eager to offer their customers access to low cost, high quality wireless connectivity anywhere in the country.
Mr. Ahuja will be joined today by a broad cross section of public officials from both major parties, farmers, small business entrepreneurs and others who say they need LightSquared’s service to remain economically competitive and viable in the years to come.
LightSquared has commissioned a renowned independent lab to test the GPS interference solutions developed by three private companies – Javad GNSS, PCTel and Partron. Three additional top-tier, high-precision GPS manufacturers – all members of the Save Our GPS Coalition – have also developed solutions that have been tested at the lab. Initial testing by one of those companies, Hemisphere GPS, has gone very well. Several of these companies are also suppliers to the federal government. These are major developments and a direct repudiation of the claims of some GPS device makers that the interference issue is an unsolvable physics problem.
"Preliminary results show that GPS devices tested in the lab easily surpass performance standards thanks to these newly developed solutions. We are confident that this independent testing will mirror testing being done by the federal government," said LightSquared chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja.
Ahuja will speak this morning on Capitol Hill at an event in support of LightSquared, which will be attended by a bipartisan group of public officials as well as former Senators Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas. Former Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell will also attend the event.
Noting the preliminary test results, current and former officials have called on federal agencies to move forward with the approval of LightSquared’s network so that consumers, public safety workers and rural America can realize the benefits of the network. A critical benefit is the entry of a much-needed new competitor to inject innovation and choice into the wireless market.
"If you took a survey of folks living in rural areas like mine, they would tell you unanimously that they want to keep GPS and they also want LightSquared. This powerful new high-speed network will finally allow them to access broadband wherever they might live or work or travel," said Charles Simmons, county commissioner, Randolph County, Georgia.
LightSquared has proposed building the nation’s first wholesale-only wireless broadband network integrated with ubiquitous satellite coverage. It has already signed more than thirty wholesale customers, including PowerNet Global, a Cincinnati-based company that will use LightSquared’s spectrum to offer a local high-speed voice and data service for the first time ever.
"LightSquared’s network allows PowerNet Global to compete in a way that is simply out- of-reach for most small and medium-sized telecommunications companies today. Companies our size simply can’t afford to build our own network," said Bernie Stevens, president and CEO, PowerNet Global. "With LightSquared, we can compete and grow in ways never before possible."
About LightSquared
LightSquared’s mission is to revolutionize the U.S. wireless industry. With the creation of the first-ever, wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE network integrated with satellite coverage, LightSquared offers people the speed, value and reliability of universal connectivity, wherever they are in the United States. As a wholesale-only operator, LightSquared will deploy an open 4G wireless broadband network to be used by existing and new service providers to sell their own devices, applications and services–at a competitive cost and without retail competition from LightSquared. The deployment and operation of LightSquared’s network represent more than $14 billion of private investment over the next eight years. For more information about LightSquared, please go to www.LightSquared.com , www.facebook.com/LightSquared and www.twitter.com/LightSquared .
Forward Looking StatementThis release contains forward-looking statements and information regarding LightSquared and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of LightSquared’s management and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements expressed herein relate only to information as of the date of this release. LightSquared has no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, nor is there any assurance that the plans or strategies discussed in this release will not change.