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Sprint puts the brakes on LightSquared spectrum deal, waits for FCC thumbs up
It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings and, in this case, she's still taking a very deep breath. After granting potential partner LightSquared a 30-day extension to gain final FCC approval for its LTE spectrum, Sprint is now pulling back from the 15-year resource sharing agreement that would see it building out and utilizing LS' plagued network. While the Hesse-led company has yet to issue any specifics of this course change, mention was made of "realigning [the] deployment timeline" -- so, the deal's not totally off the table, but it's definitely hovering in regulation limbo. It's a bummer for sure, as Sprint could really use the additional 4G spectrum, but no matter -- we still have the carrier's LTE-enabled Galaxy Nexus to look forward to.
Sprint gives LightSquared an extra 30 days to gain FCC approval
As you may recall from last year, Sprint and LightSquared signed a 15-year agreement that would see the two companies share spectrum and equipment as they build out their respective LTE networks -- an agreement that hinged on LightSquared's ability to gain FCC approval for its planned use of a particularly problematic slice of spectrum. LightSquared faced a December 31st deadline from Sprint on that last bit, which has obviously passed. So, is the deal dead? Not yet -- Sprint's now given LightSquared a 30-day reprieve on the deadline, during which LightSquared can continue its attempt to gain clearance from the FCC. For its part, LightSquared has yet to comment on this latest development, and it remains to be seen if it's prospects for the next thirty days are any brighter than the last.
