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Skype FreedomPop Partner LightSquared to Offer Free Broadband Services

by MoneyMagnetMagnate
7 replies
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Skype Co-Founder's FreedomPop Partner to Offer Free Broadband Services...

Think they can pull it off?
LightSquared and Skype Co-Founder's FreedomPop Partner to Offer Free Broadband... -- RESTON, Va.*and LOS ANGELES, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Interesting. Some areas of the US still don't have broadband through the local phone company, and people must use expensive satellite connections.

    It appears LightSquad will offer low cost / free satellite connections as a wholesale entity only.

    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.
    I wonder two things:
    1- How will LightSquared make money?
    2- How much will the companies that re-market the connections charge users?

    :-Don
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    • Profile picture of the author MoneyMagnetMagnate
      Originally Posted by Don Schenk View Post

      Interesting. Some areas of the US still don't have broadband through the local phone company, and people must use expensive satellite connections.

      It appears LightSquad will offer low cost / free satellite connections as a wholesale entity only.



      I wonder two things:
      1- How will LightSquared make money?
      2- How much will the companies that re-market the connections charge users?

      :-Don
      Exactly Don -
      You raise the exact points I put this discussion on the table for -
      If anything, they will certainly face massive opposition from the opposition, even when they are offering a "freely competitive" platform...

      But then...everyone wondered how Google would make any money also...
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate View Post

        Exactly Don -
        You raise the exact points I put this discussion on the table for -
        If anything, they will certainly face massive opposition from the opposition, even when they are offering a "freely competitive" platform...

        But then...everyone wondered how Google would make any money also...
        Google NEVER made money! THAT is why they had an IPO, and things like adwords, etc... But THOSE fit into its original business model.

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    GOD, this is SO much HYPE!!!!!! First, Some companies have done it because they get a kickback, free advertising, advertisement placement, or drive OTHER business. Broadband isn't really broadband if you disable a lot of things they likely will, to try to pay for it. BTW MOST ad placement systems have FAILED!

    They said: "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" GEE, an easy claim to make with all those modifiers, but the first-ever wholesale-only "nationwide" wireless network may very well have been created by "US-Cellular". They ran for YEARS without billing a SINGLE retail customer! It DID work well, but laws changed that complicated matters, and it was all too easy to compete, so they now have retail business also. ALSO, ALL major carriers, and probably all cell phone tower owners,(known as ILECS) are REQUIRED BY LAW to offer wholesale service, for those known as CLECS.

    US-CELLULAR bought out little markets nobody cared about. The government realized it wouldn't work, and so they required companies buying a big market to buy a small one also. So US-CELLULAR ended up having cells their model didn't support, and traded for a while. Now they also COMPETE.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    BTW **WHY** do SO MANY keep trying the SAME thing? They constantly add modifiers to try to say they are the FIRST. And wholesale does NOT mean FREE!

    BTW I demand that they PUT UP OR SHUT UP! Somehow, I seem to be magical. No less than 4 companies claiming to provide free services RENEGGED or changed things after I got on!

    1. WENT BANKRUPT!
    2. Kept decreasing my service, and increasing the price, and sent me a letter to NEVER do business with them again. They were bought out, raised their price, and I don't know HOW they compete!
    3. Constantly locked out ports making their service almost worthless.
    4. Verizon. YEAH, I named it. Expensive, bad Customer service and Tech service, but I WILL say THIS! They kept their contract with ME. They CHANGED their new contracts though!

    So how about it freedompop? Are you up to it? Can I get your FREE BROADBAND internet service?

    I wonder if THIS one will last a year!

    Steve
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    • Profile picture of the author thunderbird
      Operating Model - LightSquared

      "LightSquared will operate a wholesale-only business model, making it the sole wireless provider of its kind in the U.S. market."


      What does "wholesale-only business model" mean? I just did a quick search for a simple definition of it what it would mean, and its meaning in the context of LightSquared's business.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by thunderbird View Post

        Operating Model - LightSquared

        "LightSquared will operate a wholesale-only business model, making it the sole wireless provider of its kind in the U.S. market."


        What does "wholesale-only business model" mean? I just did a quick search for a simple definition of it what it would mean, and its meaning in the context of LightSquared's business.
        Well, TECHNICALLY, they ARE violating it ANYWAY, but I take "wholesale-only business model" to mean "wholesale-only business model"!

        business model=way of doing business, the manner in which they make money.
        only=sole, exclusive, JUST
        wholesale=wholesale, which now means that they offer at a price that others markup. By definition it is *****NOT***** to end consumers!

        SO, I said UC USED to do that! They bought out places that NOBODY wanted. They made money. HOW?????? You might be asking? Well, almost ANYONE would love LA. If you could corner LA, WOW! IMAGINE, NO cell phone company could really claim international coverage, etc.... And US cellular wouldn't have touched that.

        But what about atwater? UC MIGHT have gone for that. WHY? I mean a small portion of the 28,000 population? FORGET IT! AT&T wouldn't want THAT! But if their CUSTOMERS had family there, any reason to visit, or go through? Ever hear of ROAMING? YEP, AT&T bills the customers, and UC bills AT&T! WHOLESALE!

        So they had fewer bills, lower resource needs, NO deadbeats, NO cellphone repairs, NO returns, more casual repairs, no advertising costs, etc... and they could bill only a few customers MILLIONS of dollars.

        But NOW, they have retail, so they violate the ONLY part of that clause. MOST distributors are supposed to be wholesale only.

        Steve
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