Sprint might dump LightSquared sooner rather than later
I think we all knew that the writing has been on the wall for LightSquared for quite some time now. But according to some anonymous reports from people in the know, it looks like Sprint's tenuous relationship with LightSquared could be over as soon as next week.
LightSquared has been struggling to get regulatory approval to start building out its proposed LTE network. The GPS industry is rightly worried about how LightSquared's network could interfere with GPS satellites, and the FCC doesn't look like they're ready to budge at all. Back at the beginning of February, Sprint told LightSquared that it had until March 15 to get its sh*t together, and it doesn't look like Sprint will be granting any more extensions. Thus, Sprint's now preparing to part ways.
Sprint is already well on its way in deploying an LTE network without LightSquared, and some think that Sprint may end up renewing its existing relationship with Clearwire as it seeks additional capacity and spectrum for its expanding LTE network. In any case, new LTE devices should still be on their way as early as this May, with a possible LTE EVO this summer.
[Bloomberg]
