LightSquared vows to fight FCC decision

Wireless start-up LightSquared plans to fight the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) move to reject its proposed nationwide 4G network.

Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared's vice president for regulatory affairs, said the company will file a formal comment with the FCC urging the agency not to follow through on its proposal to "indefinitely suspend" LightSquared's authority to operate cell towers. When asked if the company plans to sue the FCC over the decision, Carlisle said, "We'll see where it goes." LightSquared can challenge the FCC's decision as "arbitrary and capricious" in federal appeals court. CEO Philip Falcone said there were solutions to GPS-related issues that would allow the service to go forward, "if rational public policy prevails." He left no doubt he did not believe it had done so to date. "I made this multibillion dollar investment in LightSquared in reliance on FCC's stated conditions for our receiving a license. Today's Public Notice by the FCC not only disregards this decade-old regulatory order but also reverses a policy adopted by Republican leadership in 2005. In doing so, it jeopardizes private enterprise, jobs and telecom investment in America's future."