Could a satellite company decongest American Wi-Fi and save itself in the process?

The satellite company Globalstar has an intriguing -- and potentially lucrative -- plan to help wireless network management, and get itself out of a financial hole in the process.

Globalstar’s 32 satellites provide voice and data communication to some 120 countries, servicing satellite phones and tracking devices. But problems with its previous generation of satellites hurt service and have kept the company mired in losses. Its stock, delisted by NASDAQ at the end of last year, trades over the counter at a little over 30 cents a share. Two years ago, John Dooley, an engineer and investor who co-founded Jarvinian, a venture fund that invests in wireless technology, approached Globalstar about a missed opportunity to make money. Globalstar licenses wireless spectrum to communicate with its satellites, but doesn’t use nearly all of it. Dooley told them that the “best use of your spectrum” would be on earth: Expanding Wi-Fi, effectively a three-lane highway, into a four-lane express. For this is Globalstar’s advantage: The spectrum it licenses for its satellites just happens to be adjacent to the spectrum reserved for public use, right where a new channel for Wi-Fi would be found. The picture below shows what the 2.4-2.5 GHz band of spectrum looks like right now in the Boston area. Those green and red peaks are Wi-Fi use. The part next to them, marked “Wi-Fi Channel 14,” is quieter, and half of it (“GS 2400″) is reserved for Globalstar’s satellite needs.