News
Ligado Networks is working with regulatory authorities to enable it to roll out a network based on its mid-band spectrum.
LightSquared this week revealed the new identity that will back its second attempt to launch a mobile network in the U.S. based on its L-band spectrum.
The company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection late last year, has relaunched as Ligado Networks.
The name reflects its "new focus on connectedness," the company said in a statement. Ligado is the past participle of the Spanish verb ligar, meaning to bind or tie.
"Ligado means being connected and ready to go," said Ligado Networks chief executive Doug Smith.
"As our lives become more mobile in an increasingly connected world, the Ligado Networks brand underscores our mission to provide the mobile connections that support a growing variety of emerging applications," he said.
The company referred specifically to the growing Internet of Things (IoT) space, which will require additional network capacity as more everyday objects are connected.
Indeed, the IoT is "not just things," Smith said. "The real keys to success are the connections between those things as well as the quality of that connectivity."
Verticals such as the healthcare, automotive, shipping, the home, and others, as well as next-generation mobile networks in general, will require more mid-band spectrum to facilitate those connections, Smith said.
"Mid-band spectrum is part of the solution to deliver ultra-reliable, highly-secure, and capacity-rich connectivity," he said.
"We’re all about connectivity, and we are working with industry and government stakeholders to increase the supply of available spectrum," Smith added. "This work represents a critical and first step toward our company’s efforts to bring next-generation connectivity to market."
The company gave little indication as to the scope and timeframe of its new network, beyond saying that it will spend the coming months working with regulatory authorities to enable it to use its mid-band spectrum.
Ligado, or LightSquared as it was then known, filed for Chapter 11 in 2012 after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) withdrew support for its proposal to build a combined satellite and terrestrial LTE network and operate it on a wholesale basis. The FCC’s decision was based on complaints from GPS providers who feared the network would interfere with their signals.
It has since reached agreement with the GPS companies, gained FCC approval to transfer its spectrum to a new, restructured entity, and exited Chapter 11.
