Harbinger’s 4G Plan Takes Aim at Verizon, AT&T
Billionaire hedge funder Philip Falcone, recently scandalized by accusations by a former employee of sexual harrassment (among other things), has announced ambitious plans for his investment firm Harbinger Capital Partners to use its recent acquisition of satellite communications company SkyTerra to build out a 4G wireless network of its own. According to Businessweek.com, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission say that Harbinger intends to build a hybrid network that combines satellite with terrestrial technology that will be “capable… of deploying LTE [Long Term Evolution] and WiMAX level service.” LTE is the same technology being rolled out by AT&T and Verizon.
The the country’s two largest wireless companies are unsurprisingly are objecting to the FCCs approval of Falcone’s acquisition of SkyTerra. Specifically, they are taking issue with FCC rules that require “SkyTerra to seek approval before leasing capacity to ‘the largest or second-largest wireless provider,’ a condition Harbinger had proposed,” Bloomberg notes. The FCC implemented these rules to promote greater competition within the wireless business, which is a main focus of the FCC’s new broadband push.
“The commission is setting a very disturbing precedent when it implies that it may use allocation of spectrum to manipulate the wireless market,” Jim Cicconi, AT&T’s senior executive vice president for external and legislative affairs, said in an e-mailed statement. “This action is manifestly unwise and potentially unlawful.”
In terms of timelines, the Financial Times says that services will begin in two trial markets – Denver and Phoenix – with a commercial launch expected before the third quarter of 2011. Assuming all goes well, Businessweek.com reports that Harbinger’s 4G network will cover 100 million people by the end of 2012 and more than 260 million people by the end of 2015.
Though neither Harbinger nor SkyTerra have commented on the venture, the FCC has said, encouragingly, that any potential new 4G networks would be “a significant public interest benefit, both because of the competition it will bring in mobile wireless broadband services and because it will provide mobile wireless broadband service to traditionally underserved areas.”
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