After several weeks of congressional hearings and bad press
regarding possible interference with GPS equipment, wireless
broadband company LightSquared announced July 5 they have raised
millions of dollars in new investments.
The controversial startup claimed it
raised $264 million in new capital to add to more than $2.3 billion
it has raised in the past year.
“This latest round of financing signals another endorsement
by the financial markets of our business model, and
LightSquared’s intent to use private capital to build out a
new network to meet the growing demand across this entire nation
for wireless broadband access,” said LightSquared CEO Sanjiv
Ahuja in the news release.
This news comes as LightSquared has
scaled back its plans in order to avoid using broadband signals
that are closest to the GPS spectrum. The company put forth what it
called a "solution" last month which would have it launching its
service on a lower portion of spectrum it says will cause less
interference. The Coalition to Save Our GPS and other experts have
voiced concerns over the company’s potential harm to existing
GPS capabilities that are used in the aviation industry, and said
the company's "solution" was no solution at all.
Despite assurances coming from LightSquared, many GPS manufacturers
are demanding that plans to use frequencies close to the GPS
spectrum should not be used at any point. The FCC is now evaluating
the interference test results and must approve the plan before
LightSquared can move forward.
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