EATEL Becomes First Local Exchange Carrier to Partner with LightSquared

RESTON, Va. and GONZALES, La., Nov. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- LightSquared™, a wholesale carrier building a nationwide wireless broadband network that will create consumer choice and drive industry innovation, and EATEL, a privately owned communications company based in Gonzales, Louisiana, announced that they have entered a wholesale agreement today that will allow EATEL to offer its subscribers high-speed wireless data and voice services using LightSquared's nationwide 4G-LTE network.

This agreement will allow EATEL, an Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC), to provide its customers with a world-class wireless broadband service that competes on price and quality with any wireless carrier in the nation. LightSquared is the only company in the country that offers its wholesale customers the ability to offer customers a network that is integrated with coast-to-coast satellite coverage.    

EATEL, founded in 1935, is the incumbent local phone carrier in the Ascension and Livingston Parishes of Louisiana, where it provides innovative products including high-speed Internet, phone and television service over a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network.  With LightSquared, EATEL will be able to offer its growing customer base world-class wireless service that will enable EATEL to build on its long heritage of providing local communities with cutting-edge connectivity.

"LightSquared's network not only allows EATEL to offer our existing customers wireless broadband services, it also gives us a critical competitive advantage as we expand our services into new markets," said John D. Scanlan, EATEL president. Arthur "Smokey" Scanlan, EATEL's chief executive officer, added that "LightSquared's unique ability to offer both broadband and satellite connectivity over the same device will be a breakthrough product for our customers."

With this agreement, EATEL becomes the first ILEC to sign on to LightSquared's network. "EATEL is exactly the type of company that LightSquared is building its wholesale network to serve," said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. "We believe EATEL and the many other ILECs around the country provide critical and valuable communications services to their communities, and their customers deserve the benefits of partnering with LightSquared, including ubiquitous connectivity and lower prices."

About LightSquared

LightSquared's mission is to revolutionize the U.S. wireless industry. With the creation of the first-ever, wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE network integrated with satellite coverage, LightSquared offers people the speed, value and reliability of universal connectivity, wherever they are in the United States. 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. For more information about LightSquared, please go to www.LightSquared.com, www.facebook.com/LightSquared and www.twitter.com/LightSquared.

About EATEL

EATEL was the first company in Louisiana to provide phone, high-speed Internet and cable TV services over a state-of-the-art, all-fiber communications network that offers a broad array of advanced digital services, including 75 High-Definition channels, TV Caller ID and hundreds of Video On Demand titles. Founded in Gonzales, Louisiana in 1935, EATEL recently celebrated its 75th anniversary as the leading telecommunications service provider in the Ascension and Livingston Parish communities. To learn more about EATEL, visit www.eatel.com.

 
Forward Looking Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements and information regarding LightSquared and its business. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of LightSquared's management and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements expressed herein relate only to information as of the date of this release. LightSquared has no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, nor is there any assurance that the plans or strategies discussed in this release will not change.

SOURCE LightSquared

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