LightSquared vows to fight FCC decision

Wireless start-up LightSquared plans to fight the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) move to reject its proposed nationwide 4G network, a company official told The Hill.

Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared’s vice president for regulatory affairs, said the company will file a formal comment with the FCC urging the agency not to follow through on its proposal to “indefinitely suspend” LightSquared’s authority to operate cell towers.

{mosads}The FCC announced the decision Tuesday night after the president’s top adviser on telecom issues concluded there is “no practical way” to prevent LightSquared’s network from disrupting GPS devices, including those used in flight safety.

When asked if the company plans to sue the FCC over the decision, Carlisle said, “We’ll see where it goes.”

LightSquared can challenge the FCC’s decision as “arbitrary and capricious” in federal appeals court.

“We’re certainly open to discussing alternatives for spectrum if they really believe this can’t work,” Carlisle said. “But at the end of the day, we want to deploy a network, and we think the American consumers deserve a network.”

Carlisle made the comments outside of the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. He was with former Democratic Majority Leader Dick Gephardt (Mo.), who is lobbying for the company.

Another aide said the group was meeting with lawmakers concerned about LightSquared’s status. They declined to specify which lawmakers.