The FCC needs to open up about LightSquared

A politically-connected company that wants to build a massive 4G internet network seems to have benefited from some curious favors from the feds

Edward Morrissey

These days, Senate holds on presidential nominations don't make too much of a splash, so not many people paid attention to a statement last Thursday from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). Grassley announced that he would place holds on two nominees to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but not because of political opposition to the nominees themselves. Instead, Grassley wants to end a stonewall strategy from FCC chair Julius Genachowski about the agency's interactions with LightSquared and the White House — a potential crony-capitalism case that new SEC action might put in the headlines, even if the holds did not.

For the last seven months, Grassley has tried to get the FCC to share its communications to understand how LightSquared secured a waiver for its novel use of a slice of the radio spectrum. The hedge fund Harbinger acquired LightSquared in 2009, when it was known as Skyterra, to exploit the Obama administration's push to expand broadband internet access to areas not well served by wired providers. Until then, Skyterra provided mainly satellite communications, with approval for only an ancillary number of terrestrial towers to augment the satellite signals. The network carried very little data, and the company's license covered small slices of radio spectrum. Harbinger cut a deal with another satellite company to combine licenses in order to launch a new 4G service that would provide high-speed internet service, complete with an extensive terrestrial network in that frequency band. Essentially, LightSquared would become a cell-service company rather than a satellite communications service.

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Edward Morrissey

Edward Morrissey has been writing about politics since 2003 in his blog, Captain's Quarters, and now writes for HotAir.com. His columns have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Post, The New York Sun, the Washington Times, and other newspapers. Morrissey has a daily Internet talk show on politics and culture at Hot Air. Since 2004, Morrissey has had a weekend talk radio show in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and often fills in as a guest on Salem Radio Network's nationally-syndicated shows. He lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota with his wife, son and daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters. Morrissey's new book, GOING RED, will be published by Crown Forum on April 5, 2016.