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Verizon follows AT&T, slams FCC over Harbinger deal
April 5, 2010 - FierceWireless: Following the lead of AT&T, Verizon Wireless late last week filed a petition with the FCC to rescind certain conditions the agency placed on a private-equity firm's plans for a nationwide, wholesale LTE network.
Verizon argued the provisions for the network, which Harbinger Capital Partners hopes to build using both terrestrial and MSS spectrum following the firm's merger with satellite operator SkyTerra, are not in line with the open ethos the FCC recently has trumpeted.
In approving the merger of SkyTerra and private-equity firm Harbinger Capital Partners, the FCC approved a provision that requires SkyTerra to ask for approval before leasing capacity on the network to the "largest or second-largest wireless provider." Harbinger wanted this provision to be included.