Telecom Lead America: LightSquared has appointed Doug
Smith as the new chairman of the board and chief executive officer for the
company.
Smith was previously serving as co-chief operating
officer for the company.
Smith said LightSquared remains committed to working with
all stakeholders to find an equitable resolution to the regulatory challenges
that the company has faced this past year.
The company is keen to provide the American public with
both a protected and robust GPS system while enabling LightSquared to offer
consumers and businesses more choice and a lower priced 4G wireless alternative
they need and deserve.
Previously, Smith served as LightSquared’s chief network
officer and was responsible for LightSquared’s network design, deployment and
operations, helping to develop the technical characteristics necessary to bring
to market a competitive high-speed wireless network.
Prior to his service at LightSquared, he held a number of
leadership positions at Clearwire and Sprint Nextel.
As a wholesale-only operator, LightSquared will deploy an
open 4G wireless broadband network to be used by existing and new service
providers to sell their own devices, applications and services at a competitive
cost and without retail competition from LightSquared.
The deployment and operation of LightSquared’s network
represent more than $14 billion of private investment over the next eight
years.
