LightSquared receives $586M in funding

LightSquared Subsidiary L.L.C. said that it closed on $586 million of debt, led by UBS AG and JP Morgan. The funding is likely good news for the hybrid operator as it has had to slow buildout plans for its $7 billion wholesale wireless broadband and satellite network.
The funds will be used for construction and other general corporate purposes. LightSquared said it has raised more than $2 billion in debt and equity over the last seven months. Harbinger Capital Partners, which is funding LightSquared, has about $7 billion in funding, a sizeable drop from the $26 billion it once counted.
“We’re excited about our prospects of bringing the next generation of mobile broadband to millions of Americans, fulfilling the promise of the National Broadband Plan using exclusively private money,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of LightSquared. “Our investors share our belief that now is the time for a wholesale model to succeed, as we will bring desperately needed 4G capacity to businesses, consumers, government and public safety users through a wide variety of retail partners which will sell services based on our integrated terrestrial and satellite network. We are deploying the most advanced network while offering service at a lower price, because as a pure wholesaler, we will we will not have retail overhead.”
Competitor Clearwire Corp. is also transitioning to a wholesale strategy, reporting record wholesale net additions in its fourth-quarter financials.