LightSquared in contract talks

LightSquared, the group behind ambitious plans for a high-speed mobile network in the US, is in contract negotiations with 15 companies that want to use the infrastructure to provide telecoms services to consumers or businesses.

Sanjiv Ahuja, LightSquared’s chief executive, said that his company could increase consumer choice in the mobile market at a time of possible industry consolidation. He expressed reservations about plans by AT&T, the leading telecoms company, to buy Deutsche Telekom’s US mobile phone business, but said LightSquared’s wholesale business model could offset any consolidation by enabling other companies to offer services to consumers. LightSquared is seeking to become the leading wholesale network operator in the US by using a fourth-generation wireless technology called LTE, which supports fast web surfing on smartphones and tablet computers. Some analysts have been skeptical that the LightSquared project – the brainchild of Philip Falcone, founder of Harbinger Capital, the hedge fund – will become reality. However, Ahuja said LightSquared was in talks with at least 60 companies that were interested in using the group’s mobile network so as to offer voice or data services to consumers or businesses. “There are 60-plus discussions, and 15 of those are at a stage where we are negotiating contracts with our customers,” he said.