LightSquared, the emerging high-speed mobile operator, is facing more pressure in Washington, D.C.
Republican lawmakers on Thursday probed into whether the Obama administration helped secure approval for the company’s effort to build a wireless broadband network, The Washington Post reported.
GOP staffers of the House strategic forces subcommittee accused the White House of trying to influence the testimony of an Air Force general who was speaking about the project’s potential to interfere with the Global Positioning System satellite network that the private sector and military relies on, according to the report.
The Federal Communications Commission has said it won’t allow LightSquared to operate its high-speed network until it resolves the issues around GPS interference. But the agency has faced criticism as well for granting LightSquared a conditional waiver early this year, and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski apparently didn’t help the situation when he decided not to appear at Thursday’s House Arms Services subcommittee hearing.
“I consider the chairman's failure to show up today to be an affront to the House Armed Services Committee," Rep. Mike Turner (R.-Ohio) was quoted as saying in a separate Post article.
The Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News reported that LightSquared has made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and President Obama, and some members of Congress have called for an investigation into LightSquared’s contacts with FCC and White House officials.
In a statement Thursday, LightSquared Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja sought to dispel any ideas that the company has received special treatment from the government, and he described as “ludicrous" any implication that “LightSquared’s success depends on political connections."
“Any suggestion that LightSquared has run roughshod over the regulatory process is contradicted by the reality of eight long years spent gaining approvals," he said. “Just this week, there has been another request from the government for an additional round of testing of LightSquared’s network."
LightSquared has raised billions of dollars to operate a wholesale-only fourth-generation mobile broadband network that will be leased to wireless operators, retailers and others that want to provide their own branded 4G service.
Ahuja said LightSquared “is poised to create thousands of jobs and invest $8 billion to help provide American consumers with cheaper, better cellular service."
LightSquared’s offering could help meet President Obama’s goal of bringing high-speed wireless service to at least 98 percent of Americans within five years. In a report to Congress, the FCC found that roughly 26 million Americans still don’t have access to high-speed Internet service.
