RESTON, Va., Sept. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- We're gratified that Senator Grassley has recognized something that the GPS industry has denied for months. The industry tried to say that there was no technical or engineering fix to the interference problem. They said there was no way to build a filter or to coexist with LightSquared's network. They said it would take ten years and tens of billions of dollars to research and find a solution. The GPS industry has now been proven wrong on every level. In a matter of months, LightSquared and the private marketplace have produced a solution using current technology and materials.The industry now has turned its focus to what the real issue was for them all along - protecting their pocketbooks.
Since 2003, the GPS industry has been on notice that they had to design and build GPS devices that could coexist with LightSquared's network.Yet, during those eight years, they have continued to sell GPS devices, including to federal agencies, that were incompatible with LightSquared's network.So we ask: should GPS users, including the federal government, or LightSquared, be forced to bear responsibility for a problem the GPS industry has known about for nearly a decade and is one of its own making?The GPS industry has received billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies, while LightSquared is planning to invest billions of dollars ofprivatecapital to build its network.Why then should the GPS manufacturers, who have grown rich on a massive public subsidy for decades, be allowed to shift the cost for a problem they created to someone else?
About LightSquared
LightSquared's mission is to revolutionize the U.S. wireless industry. With the creation of the first-ever, wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE network integrated with satellite coverage, LightSquared offers people the speed, value and reliability of universal connectivity, wherever they are in the United States. As a wholesale-only operator, LightSquared will deploy an open 4G wireless broadband network to be used by existing and new service providers to sell their own devices, applications and services - at a competitive cost and without retail competition from LightSquared. The deployment and operation of LightSquared's network represent more than $14 billion of private investment over the next eight years. For more information about LightSquared, please go to www.LightSquared.com, www.facebook.com/LightSquared and www.twitter.com/LightSquared.
Forward Looking Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements and information regarding LightSquared and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of LightSquared's management and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements expressed herein relate only to information as of the date of this release. LightSquared has no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, nor is there any assurance that the plans or strategies discussed in this release will not change.
SOURCE LightSquared
