Thu, Mar 01, 2012
Sanjiv Ahuja Had Ties To The White House
The CEO of LightSquared has stepped down from his post at the
start-up broadband company under a cloud of questions about his
political ties to the White House.
The Washington, D.C.-based Daily Caller online reports that
documents and e-mails that popped up about a week ago showed
several meetings between LightSquared officials and the Obama
administration. Prior to his filing with the FCC for the wireless
broadband network, Ahuja had given $30,000 to the Democratic
National Committee ... the maximum allowable contribution. He was
scheduled for a meeting at the White House the same day.
In the official announcement, the company gave no reason for the
resignation. The news release announcing the move said he will
continue to serve as chairman of the board, while Doug Smith,
currently chief network officer, and Marc Montagner, currently
chief financial officer, will be named as interim co-chief
operating officers. The company will be conducting the search for
the new CEO. In addition, Philip A. Falcone, CEO and CIO of
Harbinger Capital Partners, has been appointed to the
company’s board of directors. The CEO search is expected to
be completed in the near future.
Falcone said the company is not giving up on it's plan to launch
a wireless 4G LTE broadband network using both satellites and
terrestrial transmitters. “LightSquared's objective, through
its wholesale business model, is to provide increased competition
and lower prices in the telecommunications industry, and to bring
broadband cellular phone service to rural areas that currently
don’t have such service and that has not and will not
change," he said. "That has been our vision from day one. The
absence of affordable and reliable wireless service options is
frustrating for consumers, particularly in these challenging
economic times.”
Ahuja had never made a political donation before, and reportedly
has not since.
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