LightSquared CEO: "We want to be a dumb pipe company"

In a world where wireless providers want to tack on as many extra “services” as they can, LightSquared aspires to be different, says CEO Sanjiv Ahuja. “LightSquared is building the ultimate dumb pipe,” Ahuja said during his Open Mobile Summit 2011 keynoted address. "We want to be the dumbest wireless broadband pipe. No intelligence in our network. None. Zero."

LightSquared is currently rolling out their new LTE network, claiming they will bring LTE to 100 million U.S. customers by the end of 2012.  If they meet success, it could usher in a world of phones with no carrier-mandated bloatware, as well as a reduction in the cost of services such as text messaging and even voice calling.  The price of those services are kept artificially high by current carriers because they don’t allow them to be treated as data, allowing companies like Verizon and AT&T to pad their profit margins on these commonly used features.

The business model that LightSquared has proposed would be like that of your water or electrical utilities: they would provide the data pipelines, and just charge you for the data you use.  It would be up to handset manufacturers and software companies to create an open market of services customers could choose from.  The end result could be lowered prices, as well as the ability for consumers to choose only the services they want a la carte, rather than having to accept the milieu of bloatware services that are currently preloaded onto smartphones.

Sound good?  First LightSquared will have to overcome hurdles thrown up by the GPS industry, whose products have seen interference as LightSquared tests their LTE network.  Ahuja expressed optimism that those challenges are being addressed. "We are working closer with the FAA to ensure there are no safety issues. We are very confident we'll solve that."

source: Light Mobile Reading via BGR