As we mentioned in March, Harbinger Capital Partners is building a new nationwide LTE network dubbed “Lightsquared” using spectrum owned a satellite subsidiary by the name of SkyTerra. Leaked launch information indicates that the company should have 20 markets live by 2012. While they may not have built any cell cites yet the company this week announced that they’ve launched their SkyTerra 1 satellite, which will provide the satellite half of their network build equation.

According to the company, the new bird is one of the largest ever built:

The satellite, a Boeing 702HP built by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, is designed to provide wireless mobile services to millions of subscribers. LightSquared’s SkyTerra 1 satellite features a 22-meter L-band reflector-based antenna the largest commercial antenna reflector to be put into service. The satellite, among the most powerful commercial satellites ever built, will provide ubiquitous nationwide coverage and enable integrated satellite-terrestrial service using products that are similar to today s typical mobile devices in terms of size, capabilities and build costs.

Lightsquared plans to sell wholesale access to their LTE network, which will use this new satellite for rural coverage and emergency communication services. The LTE portion of the network will cost about $7 billion and will be built by Nokia. On the more terrestrial news front, it was revealed this week that Harbinger is being investigated by the SEC for a $113 million loan taken out by Harbinger founder Philip Falcone to pay personal taxes and potential “preferential treatment” of certain investors.

Link to the original article…

After the Verizon data overcharge, how AT&T is still the only place you can get an Apple iPhone without having to do something illegal, among other complaints, observations and gripes with cellphone carriers in the United States they all suck in one way or another, it seems like U.S. Cellular is trying to reverse that with their recently unveiled “The Belief Project”…

Some highlights of The Belief Project:

• We’re the first carrier to eliminate the need for post-pay customers to continuously sign contracts. With the new “One and Done” contract policy, new customers who fulfill an initial two-year commitment with U.S. Cellular never have to sign a contract again.
• Loyal customers have become accustomed to new customers getting the best deals. At U.S. Cellular, all of our post-pay customers can earn Belief Points simply for being a customer. The points can be redeemed for things they actually want: phone upgrades, additional lines, accessories, ringtones and forgiveness of overage charges.
• Customers are automatically enrolled and start receiving points when they sign up for any U.S. Cellular Belief Plan. There are no fees, blackout dates or expiration, and points are easy to redeem in-store, online or by calling customer service. Belief Points are earned based on a customer’s monthly plan, the number of lines on the account, and how long they’ve been a customer.

As you can see, we believe we are differentiating ourselves in an industry with little differentiation amongst customers.

With reward points being given to users that actively decide, not being forced to stay due to contracts or other incentives that actually cost people more than just outright buying an unlocked phone – number portability does not equate to freedom – this sounds like a seriously great step in the right direction.

Way to go U.S. Cellular. Let’s hope that other companies take note and try to actually reward their customers instead of making them feel like they’re locked into a contract that serves only the company and not the person. Take a look around and see if you’re in their coverage areas.

[ Links: The Belief Project ]

While some observers say femtocells have yet to prove their value, Kaul points to a combination of other factors: the general economic malaise, which makes the 0 pricetag of an unsubsidized femtocell harder to swallow; the time operators need to get their systems and networks ready for a femtocell deployment and to devise innovative pricing plans; a fear in some quarters that a rapid increase in femtocell numbers would cause interference in the macro network.

It’s hard to blame femtocell’s slow adoption on the economy or getting the services deployed. Many carriers already offer femtocells but they only offer them to customers who call in to complain about coverage issues. And frankly some of the pricing models are just absurd; Verizon’s femtocell pricing plan eats away at your wireless minutes even tough you’re making the wireless call over your own broadband connection. Again, where’s the value?

ABI predicts things could improve slightly in 2010 for the well-hyped technology, but that shipments will still be 40% lower than earlier predictions. That of course means a shake out among smaller femtocell vendors who actually listened to firms like ABI back in 2006 when they declared femtocells would be the hottest thing in telecom since the Hayes compatible.

Link to the original article…

As promised, the FCC today voted to impose a shot clock aimed at speeding up municipal approval for the placing of wireless towers. According to an FCC news release (warning: pdf link), the new agency rules impose a 90 day limit to states and municipalities to approve or deny collocation (tower sharing) requests, and 150 day limit to act on new tower placement requests.

It’s something the wireless industry has been lobbying for for a while. According to wireless industry lobbyists, (warning: pdf) there’s currently 760 new tower placement applications nationally that have been waiting for approval for at least a year, and 180 applications that have been waiting at least three years (though the industry has been known to play up government dysfunction for effect). Municipalities are expected to challenge the ruling in the courts over fears that they’d be ceding too much state zoning control to Uncle Sam.

Link to the original article…

The company says that Clearwire, Sprint and Comcast will all launch their wireless broadband service in Chicago at the same time. Up to this point, despite running all on the same network, the services have seen belated follow up launches after Clearwire first launches a new network. Clearwire also announced a slew of additional launches that are going to go live in November and December.

Charlotte, Dallas, San Antonio, Greensboro, Raleigh, Chicago and Philly will go live in November. Seattle, Honolulu and Maui will be going live in December. Clearwire is hoping to have 25 new markets launched in 2009.

Link to the original article…