LightSquared promotes Doug Smith to CEO, chairman slot

Doug Smith was named CEO and chairman of the board of LightSquared

Smith

Doug Smith was named CEO and chairman of the board of LightSquared, the bankrupt wireless company that aspires to build a wholesale broadband wireless network and provide cellphone service to 260 million Americans by 2015.  

Smith has been serving as co-chief operating officer of the company and also worked as LightSquared's chief network officer, where he was responsible for the company's network design, deployment and operations. Before joining LightSquared, Smith held leadership positions at Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) and Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S).

In a release announcing the news, Smith said the company is still committed to finding a resolution to its regulatory challenges. LightSquared filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said its network could interfere with GPS systems and the FCC revoked its license to use the 1.6 GHz L-band wireless spectrum.

Harbinger Capital Partners, headed by Philip Falcone, poured more than $3 billion into LightSquared. The company has said it intends to fight the FCC's ruling and it is also attempting to gain FCC approval for a spectrum exchange that would allow it to launch services on spectrum that does not interfere with GPS functions. In June, LightSquared was negotiating with its creditors to prevent a liquidation of its assets.

For more:
- see this release

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