LightSquared and Skype Co-Founder's FreedomPop Partner to Offer Free Broadband Services



RESTON, Va. and LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- LightSquared™, a wholesale carrier building a nationwide wireless broadband network that will create consumer choice and drive industry innovation, and FreedomPop, a disruptive new company that will offer free broadband and voice services to all Americans, have signed a wholesale network agreement.



FreedomPop is spearheaded by Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, and his venture capital firm Atomico. The company will launch in 2012 with its ultimate objective to ensure that every American has access to fast, free and convenient communication services. FreedomPop will initially target underserved markets.



"The Internet is a right, not a privilege," said Matt Ingrid, COO of FreedomPop. "With the economic efficiencies delivered by LightSquared's wholesale business model, we can achieve our objective to deliver flexible high-speed wireless access to anyone at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience seen in today's market."



As LightSquared's 4G-LTE network comes online starting in the second half of 2012, FreedomPop will use the company's world-class network to power its mobile broadband service and provide advanced wireless services to customers across the country.



Bringing connectivity to all Americans is a key tenet of LightSquared's vision. "FreedomPop represents the kind of disruptive service model that LightSquared is enabling, and shares our belief that broadband access is a right for everyone," said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. "Our nationwide network will allow FreedomPop to make a profound impact by delivering affordable high-speed wireless access to underserved communities across the country."



VoIP. It's the wave of the telecommunications future, man. All kidding aside, there probably is some truth to that, as both LightSquared and Skype's co-founder are teaming up to offer free broadband services. The former is described as a "wholesale carrier building a nationwide wireless broadband network that will create consumer choice and drive industry innovation," while FreedomPop is described as "a disruptive new company that will offer free broadband and voice services to all Americans, have signed a wholesale network agreement."FreedomPop is spearheaded by Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype , and his venture capital firm Atomico. The company will launch in 2012 with its ultimate objective to ensure that every American has access to fast, free and convenient communication services. FreedomPop will initially target underserved markets."The Internet is a right, not a privilege," said Matt Ingrid, COO of FreedomPop. "With the economic efficiencies delivered by LightSquared's wholesale business model, we can achieve our objective to deliver flexible high-speed wireless access to anyone at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience seen in today's market." As LightSquared's 4G-LTE network comes online starting in the second half of 2012, FreedomPop will use the company's world-class network to power its mobile broadband service and provide advanced wireless services to customers across the country.Bringing connectivity to all Americans is a key tenet of LightSquared's vision. "FreedomPop represents the kind of disruptive service model that LightSquared is enabling, and shares our belief that broadband access is a right for everyone," said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. "Our nationwide network will allow FreedomPop to make a profound impact by delivering affordable high-speed wireless access to underserved communities across the country."To be honest, LightSquare is making a lot of bold claims these days -- some of which we aren't entirely sure they're capable of keeping. But we'd be more than happy to be proven wrong if it means internet for all, or even internet for more.