GPS Innovation Alliance Clips July 20-26, 2013 In Alliance news…

TR Daily reported that parties filed mixed views on a white paper released by the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council that proposes the use of “harm claim thresholds” to improve receiver performance. The article quoted from a GPS Innovation Alliance filing, which said that harm claim thresholds are worth exploring, although they face “serious administrative difficulties” and should only be one of the FCC’s tools to ensure that spectrum is being used efficiently.

In GPS news:

An article in The Economist on GPS vulnerabilities notes: "But for many users, GPS and other space-based navigation systems...remain indispensable and ubiquitous.”

Inside GNSS reports that in a Tuesday hearing on two fatal school bus/truck collisions, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended adoption of “connected vehicle technology” on all newly manufactured highway vehicles as a way to reduce such accidents. The collision-avoidance systems — similar to those used in civil aviation — would typically depend on real-time transmissions of the GNSS-derived locations of nearby vehicles to provide enhanced “situational awareness” to drivers.

Reporting on the U.S. Navy's X-47B drone, the first pilotless unmanned jet in history to land aboard a moving aircraft carrier, WIRED notes that it is reliant on state-of-the-art GPS navigation, a high-integrity network connection, and advanced flight control software to chart its territory.

A report in The Deerfield Valley News (Vermont) on planned airport improvements notes that plans include the installation of a precision approach GPS system for pilots flying in and out in bad conditions

The Republic (Columbus, Ind.) reports that city officials are beginning to use GPS-based technology to help keep track of gravesites.

In LightSquared news:

In an op-ed for The Hill, Thomas M. Lenard and Lawrence J. White argue that the FCC should focus greater attention on "removing the remaining impediments to the deployment of the MSS spectrum." The op-ed discusses LightSquared throughout, and supports the company's proposal to share 5MHZ of spectrum with NOAA weather balloons.

Communications Daily reports that the FCC granted LightSquared an extension of a temporary experimental authority to use the bands 1670-1680 MHz and 400.15-406 MHz for mobile broadband services.

Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, Financial Times, New York Post and others report that L-Band Acquisition LLC, wholly owned by Dish Network Corp., raised its offer for LightSquared’s assets to $2.2 billion by adding $220 million in cash under certain conditions; and that a group of lenders to LightSquared proposed a reorganization plan for the company, saying its LP unit should be sold at auction with the lead offer from an entity owned by Dish Network Corp.

Dow Jones Newswires reports that with control of its bankruptcy case gone, LightSquared said it expects multiple proposals to reorganize the company and hopes to have any winning plan approved by December. Tim Farrar discussed the development on his blog.

Law360 reports that a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday scolded attorneys for LightSquared, a group of lenders and entities owned by Charlie Ergen over their disconnected efforts to craft a deal to pull LightSquared out of bankruptcy.

A cite list and links to the full text of these and other articles follow.

1. TR Daily, PARTIES OFFER MIXED VIEWS ON TAC WHITE PAPER ON RECEIVER PERFORMANCE, 2484 words, 23 July 2013

2. WSJ Blogs (Bankruptcy Beat), The Daily Docket: Maxcom Enters Bankruptcy in the U.S., July 24, 2013, By Melanie Cohen

3. WSJ Blogs (Corporate Intelligence), Media Journal: Dish Offers $2.2B for Spectrum Owned by LightSquared, July 24, 2013, By Martin Peers

4. Broadband Reports, Dish Trying to Buy LightSquared For $2.22 Billion, July 24, 2013, By Karl Bode

5. Dow Jones Newswires, LightSquared's ad hoc lenders propose a reorganization plan, July 23, 2013, By Joseph Checkler

6. Bloomberg, LightSquared's Ad Hoc Lenders Propose Reorganization Plan, July 23, 2013, By Tiffany Kary

7. Law 360, With Lender Plan Filed, LightSquared Told to Continue Talks, July 23, 2012, by Maria Chutchian

8. The Hill, Broadcast spectrum is not the only spectrum available, July 23, 2013, By Thomas M. Lenard and Lawrence J. White

9. New York Post, Ergen offers $2.2B to be 'stalking horse' bidder in LightSquared auction, July 23, 2013, By Kaja Whitehouse

10. Law 360, LightSquared Prepares for Rival Reorganization Plans, July 22, 2013, By Maria Chutchian

11. Dow Jones Newswires, With Exclusivity Lost, LightSquared Expects Competing Offers, July 22, 2013, By Joseph Checkler

12. The Washington Post, SEC rejects settlement with hedge fund billionaire, July 19, 2013, By Dina ElBoghdady

13. COMMUNICATIONS DAILY, July 23, 2013 Tuesday, SATELLITE, SECTION: SATELLITE, LENGTH: 81 words

14. TR Daily, SEC REJECTS SETTLEMENT WITH FALCONE, 117 words, 22 July 2013 15. WSJ Blogs (Money Beat), Lenders File Plan for LightSquared Based on Ergen's Bid, July 23, 2013,

By Joseph Checkler 16. Fierce Wireless, LightSquared lenders rally behind plan by Dish's Ergen to buy company, July 23,

2013, By Phil Goldstein 17. TR Daily, SCHOLARS ENDORSE LightSquared PLAN, 182 words, 24 July 2013 18. New York Post, Ergen charges in Offers $2.2B for Falcone's spectrum, Kaja Whitehouse, 343

words, 24 July 2013 19. The Street, The Deal: LightSquared Lenders Propose Sale, July 25, 2013 20. Financial Times, Dish Raises Offer For LightSquared Assets, By Paul Taylor, July 24, 2013 21. WSJ Blogs (Money Beat), Lenders File Plan for LightSquared Based on Ergens Bid, July 23, 2013,

By Joseph Checkler 22. The Economist, Satellite positioning-data are vital -- but the signal is surprisingly easy to disrupt,

July 27, 2013 23. The Republic (Columbus, Ind.), Illinois Spotlight: Marion using technology to map gravesites, July

25, 2013, By Scott Fitzgerald

24. Farm Industry News, 10 technologies changing farm machinery, July 24, 2013, By Jodi Wehrspann

25. Leadership Newspapers, How Technology Can Boost Farming, July 21, 2013, By Michele Oche 26. WIS (Columbia, S.C.), High tech brings new methods to low tech farming, July 23, 2013, By PJ

Randhawa 27. Inside GNSS, Safety Board Says Connected Vehicle Technology Should Be Required to Prevent

Collisions, Glen Gibbons, July 25, 2013 28. WIRED, U.S. Navy Gets in on Drone Action With First Real Aircraft Carrier Landing, July 25, 2013,

By Allen McDuffee 29. The Deerfield Valley News (Vermont), Community hears plans for valley airport revitalization, by

Jack Deming, July 25, 2013 30. TMF Associates MSS blog, No longer "highly confident," July 22, 2013, By Tim Farrar

***Excerpts/Links to Full Text of Articles*** TR Daily, PARTIES OFFER MIXED VIEWS ON TAC WHITE PAPER ON RECEIVER PERFORMANCE, 2484 words, 23 July 2013 Parties have filed mixed views on a white paper released by the FCC’s Technological Advisory Council that proposes the use of “harm claim thresholds” to improve receiver performance. Several entities stressed the need to flesh out details of implementation of such a regime and proceed carefully, and the wireless industry and other sectors said the concept should not be applied to bands or devices they use. Comments were filed by yesterday’s deadline in ET docket 13-101 in response to the paper, which was released in February. The paper suggested the use of harm claim thresholds (HCTs), which would be placed on both in-band and out-of-band signals. Those thresholds would be to be exceeded before the operator of a system could claim it was experiencing harmful interference. The paper said the FCC should (1) “encourage the formation of one or more multi-stakeholder groups to investigate interference limits policy at suitable high-value inter-service boundaries,” (2) “issue an appropriate request for input on the implementation of the interference limits policy,” and (3) “where necessary, develop the expertise and gather the relevant data to facilitate the establishment of harm claim thresholds at high value inter-service boundaries.” In its comments, CTIA suggested that the U.S. wireless industry designs and deploys “robust receivers” and it suggested the industry could be used as a model, including its use of standards bodies. The trade group said the “TAC White Paper provides a potential framework for encouraging receiver performance where incentives have not spurred efficiency or accounted for future uses.” Full article available with subscription. <Return to top> WSJ Blogs (Bankruptcy Beat), The Daily Docket: Maxcom Enters Bankruptcy in the U.S., July 24, 2013, By Melanie Cohen

Mexican phone company Maxcom Telecomunicaciones S.A.B. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. late Tuesday after reaching a deal with its creditors that would hand control of the company to a group of investors led by private equity firm Ventura Capital Privado S.A. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review article here. A group of LightSquared’s lenders on Tuesday filed a plan to reorganize the wireless-satellite company, basing it largely on Dish Network Corp. Chairman Charlie Ergen ’s $2.2 billion bid for the company’s spectrum assets. Click here for the DBR article. Revstone Industries LLC placed another of its subsidiaries into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. The DBR Small Cap article is available here. To read more click here. <Return to top> WSJ Blogs (Corporate Intelligence), Media Journal: Dish Offers $2.2B for Spectrum Owned by LightSquared, July 24, 2013, By Martin Peers Here’s your morning roundup of the biggest media industry news and happenings. Martin Peers is filling in for William Launder. Send tips, suggestions and complaints to martin.peers@wsj.com Click here to receive this newsletter each morning by email. SPEED OF LIGHT Just weeks after abandoning his pursuit of Sprint Nextel S +0.68% and its Clearwire affiliate, Charlie Ergen’s Dish unveiled a $2.2 billion cash offer for spectrum owned by LightSquared, now in bankruptcy proceedings, the NY Post and WSJ.com report. The proposal kicks off what is likely to be months-long auction for the LightSquared assets, with rival bids due by Dec. 6, so whether Dish ends up with the spectrum is far from certain. But unlike Sprint, the satellite mogul has already put a lot of his money into this play, buying much of LightSquared’s bank debt in hopes of getting leverage. To read more click here. <Return to top> Broadband Reports, Dish Trying to Buy LightSquared For $2.22 Billion, July 24, 2013, By Karl Bode A filing with the SEC indicates that Dish Network is trying to buy the remnants of failed LTE provider LightSquared for $2.22 billion in cash under a Dish subsidiary named L-Band Acquisition. LightSquared declared bankruptcy last May with assets of $4.48 billion and debt of $2.29 billion, after the FCC last year blocked their LTE network interference due to their spectrum interfering with GPS technology. Most of LightSquared's worth is centered around the company's 46 Megahertz L-Band MSS wireless spectrum. Dish has been slowly acquiring spectrum for the last few years in order to build their own LTE network, and the company's recent attempt to acquire Clearwire (and Sprint) didn't go particularly well. To read more click here. <Return to top>

Dow Jones Newswires, LightSquared's ad hoc lenders propose a reorganization plan, July 23, 2013, By Joseph Checkler A group of lenders to Philip A. Falcone's LightSquared Inc. proposed a reorganization plan for the company, saying its LP unit — which includes valuable L-Band satellite spectrum — should be sold at auction with the lead offer from an entity owned by Dish Network Corp. L-Band Acquisition LLC, wholly owned by Douglas County-based Dish, raised its offer for LightSquared's assets to $2.2 billion by adding $220 million in cash under certain conditions, Tom Lauria, a lawyer for the lenders, said Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. LightSquared has refused to meet with L-Band. "This case resists all attempt to walk in a straight line, but we're going to keep at it," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman said after admonishing lenders' lawyers for not telling her in advance they intended to file the plan before Tuesday's hearing. The hearing was scheduled to consider a timeline for LightSquared to receive proposals. Chapman approved a timeline that requires competing bids by the end of the day Dec. 6 and sets a hearing to confirm a final plan to begin Dec. 10. LightSquared had said it expected competing proposals to reorganize its assets. The broadband-network services provider lost the exclusive right to control its reorganization July 15. To read more click here. <Return to top> Bloomberg, LightSquared's Ad Hoc Lenders Propose Reorganization Plan, July 23, 2013, By Tiffany Kary A group of lenders to Philip A. Falcone’s LightSquared Inc. proposed a reorganization plan for the company, saying its LP unit should be sold at auction with the lead offer from an entity owned by Dish Network Corp. (DISH) L-Band Acquisition LLC, wholly owned by Dish, raised its offer for LightSquared’s assets to $2.2 billion by adding $220 million in cash under certain conditions, Tom Lauria, a lawyer for the lenders, said today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. LightSquared has refused to meet with L-Band. “This case resists all attempt to walk in a straight line, but we’re going to keep at it,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman said after admonishing lenders’ lawyers for not telling her in advance that they intended to file the plan before today’s hearing. The hearing was scheduled to consider a timeline for LightSquared to receive proposals. Chapman approved a timeline that requires competing bids by the end of the day on Dec. 6 and sets a hearing to confirm a final plan to begin Dec. 10. LightSquared had said it expected competing proposals to reorganize its assets. The broadband-network services provider lost the exclusive right to control its reorganization July 15. To read more click here.

<Return to top> Law 360, With Lender Plan Filed, LightSquared Told to Continue Talks, July 23, 2012, by Maria Chutchian Law360, New York (July 23, 2013, 3:09 PM ET) -- A bankruptcy judge on Tuesday scolded attorneys for LightSquared Inc., a group of lenders and entities owned by Dish Network Corp. chairman Charlie Ergen over their disconnected efforts to craft a deal to pull LightSquared out of bankruptcy, telling them they need to continue negotiations. U.S. Judge Shelley Chapman’s frustrations stemmed from the lack of communication between LightSquared and the lenders over a proposed bid to buy the assets of LightSquared LP, one of its subsidiaries, for $2 billion. She expressed her annoyance at a hearing held hours after a plan and disclosure statement from the ad hoc group of lenders that own debt in the LightSquared subsidiary, including Ergen-owned SP Special Opportunities LLC, were filed following the termination of the company’s exclusive time to file a plan on July 15. The lenders drafted an asset purchase agreement with a separate company owned by Dish, L-Band Acquisition Corp., to buy the LightSquared subsidiary’s assets for $2 billion, but apparently did not include LightSquared itself in the discussions. Judge Chapman repeatedly told the lawyers before her at a hearing Tuesday that LightSquared must sit down with LBAC if this case is going to move forward. An auction will be held before the end of the year so the company can consider competing offers. “This case resists all attempts to walk in a straight line but we’re going to keep at it,” she said. Rachel Strickland of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, an attorney for Ergen's SPSO, said it was not useful at this point to have LightSquared involved in the discussions. Ergen is presumably competing for control of the company against its current owner, Philip Falcone's hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners LLC. To read more click here. [subscription required] <Return to top> The Hill, Broadcast spectrum is not the only spectrum available, July 23, 2013, By Thomas M. Lenard and Lawrence J. White The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding an oversight hearing this week to examine the Federal Communications Commission’s progress in planning its upcoming spectrum incentive auction. The Commission expects the auction to contribute 120 MHz of broadcast spectrum to the goal of an additional 300 MHz for mobile broadband by 2015 established by the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. While the incentive auction is important and deserves the attention it is receiving from the commission and Congress, attention should also be paid to another category of spectrum: the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum. This is the most immediately available spectrum—indeed, the only significant block of spectrum that is already licensed but not deployed. Since considerable doubt exists concerning whether the incentive auction will yield anything close to the projected 120 MHz, the commission might get more “bang for the buck” by focusing greater attention on removing the remaining impediments to the deployment of the MSS spectrum.

The National Broadband Plan initially counted 90 MHz of MSS spectrum mostly controlled by Dish and LightSquared toward its 2015 goal, but this estimate has been cut by more than half. The most recent tally, contained in an October 2012 speech by former FCC Chairman Genachowski, counted only 40 MHz of MSS spectrum and did not include the LightSquared spectrum. The company's ability to use that spectrum for its planned 4G LTE network has been thrown into doubt, pending resolution of interference issues with neighboring spectrum users. In an effort to resolve these concerns, LightSquared has proposed a second-best solution that, at this stage, is perhaps the only way of moving forward with the deployment of its network. This proposal involves vacating or delaying deployment of the 20 MHz of spectrum that is closest to the adjacent receivers. In return, LightSquared would gain access to 5MHz of government spectrum that the company would share with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather balloons. This proposal would also represent an important “trial balloon” (pun intended) of the Obama administration’s plans to expand effective spectrum supply by encouraging government agencies to share under-utilized spectrum with the private sector. By resolving this issue in a manner that allows LightSquared to move forward with its plan, the FCC can produce significant benefits for millions of users of mobile broadband services and for the U.S. economy more generally: Once deployed, LightSquared’s proposed wireless broadband network will produce an estimated $12 billion in value to the economy and potentially 10 times that amount—$120 billion—in benefits to consumers. Moreover, LightSquared represents the most immediate prospect for becoming a viable competitor in the mobile broadband space, because LightSquared’s spectrum is already licensed and the company has already invested over $4 billion in the network. Once regulatory certainty is provided, this spectrum could be online in a few years. In comparison, the incentive auctions will not take place before 2014 at the earliest. U.S. experience indicates that large-scale reallocations of spectrum such as the proposed incentive auction have taken 6-13 years to complete. To read more click here. <Return to top> New York Post, Ergen offers $2.2B to be 'stalking horse' bidder in LightSquared auction, July 23, 2013, By Kaja Whitehouse Satellite mogul Charlie Ergen has upped the ante in his battle with billionaire financier Phil Falcone over bankrupt LightSquared. Ergen today told a bankruptcy court judge that he plans to bid as much as $2.2 billion in an all-cash deal for the wireless startup’s assets. The Dish Network chairman’s bid is the centerpiece of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan filed today by a group of LightSquared creditors. The creditors, led by Ergen, own $1.3 billion of the $1.7 billion secured bank loan, including a whopping $1 billion owned by Ergen personally.

The group wants LightSquared’s assets to be sold off to the highest bidder as soon as possible, with Ergen’s $2.2 billion offer serving as the lead “stalking horse” bid. To read more click here. <Return to top> Law 360, LightSquared Prepares for Rival Reorganization Plans, July 22, 2013, By Maria Chutchian Law360, New York (July 22, 2013, 4:05 PM ET) -- LightSquared Inc. on Friday asked a New York bankruptcy judge to approve a timeline for the remainder of its bankruptcy, acknowledging that it will likely receive competing reorganization plans now that it has lost control of its bankruptcy. The wireless spectrum owner's right to file a Chapter 11 plan without the threat of any rival proposals being submitted expired on July 15. It is now asking U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Chapman to set a September deadline for any plan anyone else wants to put forward. "As LightSquared continues to work towards a successful resolution of its Chapter 11 cases, it anticipates the submission of multiple competing plans of reorganization and potential litigation arising therefrom," the company said in a court filing. LightSquared indicted that it expects a proposal to come from an ad hoc group of lenders. Potential stalking horse bidders have until Sept. 20 to submit their bids, an auction will be held by Dec. 12 and the plan confirmation hearing will be held Dec. 16 if the company's proposed timeline is approved. The company says without the timeline, its Chapter 11 case will devolve into a "confusing and contentious" process that would raise administrative costs and, as a result, lower the returns to its stakeholders. It is seeking Judge Chapman's approval because it hasn't been able to get all of its creditors on board, the company said. A hearing on LightSquared's motion will be held Tuesday morning. To read more click here. <Return to top> Dow Jones Newswires, With Exclusivity Lost, LightSquared Expects Competing Offers, July 22, 2013, By Joseph Checkler With control of its bankruptcy case gone, LightSquared said it expects multiple proposals to reorganize the company and hopes to have any winning plan approved by December. In a Friday filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, the wireless satellite company acknowledged that its deadline to file a reorganization plan without the threat of rival proposals expired July 15 and proposed a schedule for anyone who may want to present a restructuring plan. "Although LightSquared attempted to consensually establish the Proposed Timeline, it was unable to secure the support of all of its constituents," LightSquared said. The company said that reorganization plans should be filed by early September, and hearings on whether creditors can vote on such a plan would be held in early October. For plans approved by

creditors, the company proposes a Dec. 16 hearing at which Judge Shelley C. Chapman would consider whether to give the proposal final approval. A hearing on this suggested timetable is set for Tuesday. An ad-hoc group of hedge funds and others that own more than $1 billion in bank debt are likely to make a competing bid, perhaps involving a sale of LightSquared's assets. One of the members of that group is SP Special Opportunities LLC, an entity wholly owned by Dish Network Corp. (DISH) Chairman Charlie Ergen, who made a $2 billion bid for LightSquared's spectrum assets. Mr. Ergen's entity owns almost $1 billion of the bank debt, which totals about $1.7 billion. A spokesman for Dish didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. To read more click here. <Return to top> The Washington Post, SEC rejects settlement with hedge fund billionaire, July 19, 2013, By Dina ElBoghdady The settlement would have barred Falcone from critical hedge fund activities for two years such as raising new funds or being involved in dealmaking through his firm. But the deal did not require Falcone to admit wrongdoing, and it allowed him to remain chief executive of Harbinger Group. Among the sticking points for some commissioners was that the agreement did not bar Falcone from serving as an officer in a public company, people familiar with the commission’s thinking said. It is unusual for the SEC to reject a settlement recommended by its enforcement division. Typically the division’s lawyers and agency’s commissioners debate the terms of a settlement before it is brought up for a vote, they said. But SEC Chairman Mary Jo White has pledged a get-tough-on-Wall Street approach by the agency since taking the helm in April. In June, White said the agency would start requiring more defendants to admit guilt in certain types of civil settlements, and the agency told its staff that defendants engaged in “egregious intentional misconduct” may justify admissions, as would obstruction of an SEC investigation or “misconduct that harmed large numbers of investors.” The SEC had been harshly criticized by some judges for using boilerplate in many settlements that did not require an admission of guilt from defendants. To read more click here. <Return to top> COMMUNICATIONS DAILY, July 23, 2013 Tuesday, SATELLITE, SECTION: SATELLITE, LENGTH: 81 words The FCC granted LightSquared an extension of a temporary experimental authority to use the bands 1670-1680 MHz and 400.15-406 MHz for mobile broadband services. The special temporary authority is to expire Oct. 1, the FCC said in the STA notice. The original STA expired Saturday (CD April 30 p7). The company said it still plans to deploy a terrestrial network, which has been which has been stalled since last year by an FCC proposal to rescind its ancillary terrestrial component license.

<Return to top> TR Daily, SEC REJECTS SETTLEMENT WITH FALCONE, 117 words, 22 July 2013 The full Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected a settlement announced in May (TRDaily, May 9) with SEC staff to allegations charging Philip Falcone and Harbinger Capital Partners with securities fraud, including misappropriation of client assets, market manipulation, and betraying clients. Mr. Falcone is chief executive officer of Harbinger, which controls LightSquared, Inc. The SEC informed Mr. Falcone and Harbinger entities July 18 that commissioners “voted not to approve the previously disclosed agreement in principle between the enforcement staff of the SEC and the HCP Parties regarding the settlement of two civil actions filed by the SEC against the HCP Parties,” according to a July 19 regulatory filing by Harbinger Group, Inc. <Return to top> WSJ Blogs (Money Beat), Lenders File Plan for LightSquared Based on Ergen's Bid, July 23, 2013, By Joseph Checkler A group of LightSquared’s lenders on Tuesday filed a plan to reorganize the wireless-satellite company based largely on Dish Network Corp. DISH -0.69% Chairman Charlie Ergen‘s $2.2 billion bid for the company’s spectrum assets. In an early Tuesday morning filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, the Ergen-led lender group said the bid would pay in full the company’s $1.7 billion in bank debt. The lenders said their proposal is only for the so-called “LP” assets of LightSquared, which includes the use of 46 MHz of valuable L-Band MSS spectrum. LightSquared Inc., the holding company 96% owned by Phil Falcone and his Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, aren’t technically included in the bid, but because LightSquared Inc. has no real assets and indirectly owns LightSquared LP, Falcone’s control of the company would likely end. LightSquared had plans to build a nationwide, low-cost wireless-telephone network that would serve hundreds of millions of Americans. Mr. Falcone, whose recent legal woes have challenged his efforts to stay in control of LightSquared, has championed that vision for years. Mr. Ergen’s $2.2 billion offer would serve as the lead bid at an auction for the LightSquared assets, with rival bids due by Dec. 6, according to a timetable laid out by the parties and Judge Shelley C. Chapman in court Tuesday. To read more click here. <Return to top> Fierce Wireless, LightSquared lenders rally behind plan by Dish's Ergen to buy company, July 23, 2013, By Phil Goldstein A group of LightSquared's lenders filed a reorganization plan in bankruptcy court today that would largely follow the lines of Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) Chairman Charlie Ergen's $2.2 billion bid for control of LightSquared's spectrum holdings.

According to Dow Jones Newswires, the Ergen-led group said the bid would pay in full the company's $1.7 billion in bank debt. LightSquared last week lost control of its own bankruptcy reorganization plan and said that it expected multiple proposals to reorganize the company. The lender group, which owns debt in the LightSquared LP unit that controls the company's spectrum, includes Capital Research & Management, Cyrus Capital Partners, Intermarket Corp., UBS, Stamford Branch and SP Special Opportunities, which is owned by Ergen. Ergen's L-Band Acquisition LLC already made a $2 billion cash offer for LightSquared's assets earlier this year. The new proposal is only for LightSquared LP's assets, which includes 46 MHz of L-Band MSS spectrum. LightSquared Inc., which is 96-percnet-owned by Phil Falcone and his Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, is not part of the deal; LightSquared Inc. indirectly owns the equity of LightSquared LP. LightSquared has not been able to get creditors to support a reorganization timeline and has offered a streamlined process, which Bloomberg reported is scheduled to be evaluated today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. LightSquared wants to have outlines of all competing reorganization plans filed by Sept. 4, with a Dec. 16 confirmation hearing to approve the best one. To read more click here. <Return to top> TR Daily, SCHOLARS ENDORSE LightSquared PLAN, 182 words, 24 July 2013 The federal government should approve LightSquared, Inc.’s proposal to share 5 megahertz of spectrum with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather balloons as an alternative to its original plan that drew fire from Global Positioning System (GPS) interests, according to an opinion piece published in “The Hill” newspaper. “LightSquared represents an extremely costly regulatory failure. At this stage, first-best solutions are no longer available. However, if LightSquared's sharing arrangement with NOAA is approved, the company will be able to use at least some of its spectrum, move forward with deployment of its network, and help meet the National Broadband plan goals,” said Thomas Lenard, president and senior fellow of the Technology Policy Institute, and Lawrence White, an economics professor at the New York University Stern School of Business. “The Obama Administration has been promoting shared-use arrangements with the private sector as a way to free up government spectrum for commercial use. If sharing of 5 MHz with NOAA weather balloons cannot be done successfully, what's going to happen with the more difficult cases?” <Return to top> New York Post, Ergen charges in Offers $2.2B for Falcone's spectrum, Kaja Whitehouse, 343 words, 24 July 2013 That didn't take long. Eight days after Phil Falcone lost control of his LightSquared reorganization, satellite mogul Charlie Ergen has swooped in with a $2.2 billion cash offer to buy the bankrupt high-speed wireless network's valuable spectrum.

The Dish Network chairman's bid is the centerpiece of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan filed yesterday by a group of LightSquared creditors - led by the 60-year-old mogul. Under the proposed plan, Ergen will become the "stalking horse" bidding for the spectrum. If the court agrees to hold an auction, LightSquared founder Falcone will need to come up with an equal or higher bid to avoid losing the company, which he is planning to turn into a nationwide 4G wireless carrier. To read more click here. <Return to top> The Street, The Deal: LightSquared Lenders Propose Sale, July 25, 2013 NEW YORK (The Deal) -- A group of LightSquared Inc. secured lenders have filed a Chapter 11 plan for certain debtor affiliates centered on a $2.22 billion sale to satellite TV mogul Charlie Ergen. Under the Tuesday, July 23, liquidation plan for 10 debtors led by LightSquared LP, Ergen's L-Band Acquisition Corp., a vehicle of Dish Network (DISH_), would be the stalking-horse bidder for substantially all the plan debtors' assets, including four satellites and spectrum holdings. (The plan does not cover holding company LightSquared Inc. and certain other debtors.) Court papers show rival offers would have to top LBAC's bid by at least $118.6 million. LBAC would receive a $66.6 million breakup fee and up to $2 million in expense reimbursement if it lost at auction. The lenders have yet to file a bidding procedures motion, but Judge Shelley C. Chapman of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan would consider the sale at a confirmation hearing. Court papers show LBAC on May 15 offered to purchase certain LightSquared LP assets for $2 billion, but the debtor, a Reston, Va., provider of wireless mobile broadband telecommunications services, ignored the offer. To read more click here. <Return to top> Financial Times, Dish Raises Offer For LightSquared Assets, By Paul Taylor, July 24, 2013 Dish Network, the US satellite TV operator which has been seeking to enter the country’s mobile broadband data market, has increased its $2bn cash offer to acquire most of the assets of LightSquared to $2.2bn. The revised bid, disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by L-Band Acquisition, a Dish subsidiary, is the latest move in a battle by Charlie Ergen, Dish chairman, to reposition his company as a mobile data and telecoms group and offset sluggish growth in the satellite TV business.

This year Dish bid for both Sprint Nextel , the third-largest US mobile operator, and Clearwire, the 4G mobile data company, but ultimately lost a battle for both companies to Japan’s SoftBank. The offer for LightSquared’s assets comes as its lenders and the bankruptcy court consider reorganisation plans for the company. LightSquared had planned to build a nationwide 4G network but filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the Federal Communications Commission refused to approve its licence because of concerns about possible interference with safety and other GPS equipment. LightSquared, once controlled by Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners, sought protection in May last year with assets of $4.48bn and debt of $2.29bn. To read more click here. <Return to top> WSJ Blogs (Money Beat), Lenders File Plan for LightSquared Based on Ergens Bid, July 23, 2013, By Joseph Checkler A group of LightSquared’s lenders on Tuesday filed a plan to reorganize the wireless-satellite company based largely on Dish Network Corp. DISH -1.25% Chairman Charlie Ergen‘s $2.2 billion bid for the company’s spectrum assets. In an early Tuesday morning filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, the Ergen-led lender group said the bid would pay in full the company’s $1.7 billion in bank debt. The lenders said their proposal is only for the so-called “LP” assets of LightSquared, which includes the use of 46 MHz of valuable L-Band MSS spectrum. LightSquared Inc., the holding company 96% owned by Phil Falcone and his Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, aren’t technically included in the bid, but because LightSquared Inc. has no real assets and indirectly owns LightSquared LP, Falcone’s control of the company would likely end. LightSquared had plans to build a nationwide, low-cost wireless-telephone network that would serve hundreds of millions of Americans. Mr. Falcone, whose recent legal woes have challenged his efforts to stay in control of LightSquared, has championed that vision for years. To read more click here. <Return to top> The Economist, Satellite positioning-data are vital -- but the signal is surprisingly easy to disrupt, July 27, 2013 EVERY day for up to ten minutes near the London Stock Exchange, someone blocks signals from the global positioning system (GPS) network of satellites. Navigation systems in cars stop working and timestamps on trades made in financial institutions can be affected. The incidents are not a cyber-attack by a foreign power, though. The most likely culprit, according to Charles Curry, whose firm Chronos Technology covertly monitors such events, is a delivery driver dodging his bosses’ attempts to track him.

The signals are weak. Mr Curry likens them to a 20-watt light bulb viewed from 12,000 miles (19,300 km). And the jammers are cheap: a driver can buy a dashboard model for about £50 ($78). They are a growing menace. The bubbles of electromagnetic noise they create interfere with legitimate GPS users. They can disrupt civil aviation and kill mobile-phone signals, too. In America their sale and use is banned. In Britain they are illegal for civilians to use deliberately, but not, yet, to buy: Ofcom, a regulator, is mulling a ban. In recent years Australian officials have destroyed hundreds of jammers. In the right (or wrong) hands, they are potential weapons. Britain’s armed services test the devices in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, a military training area. North Korea uses big lorry-mounted versions to block GPS signals in South Korea. Starting with a four-day burst in August 2010, the attacks, which come from three positions inside the North, have lengthened. In early 2012 they ran for 16 days, causing 1,016 aircraft and 254 ships to report disruption. Mr Curry worries that criminals or terrorists could knock out GPS for an entire city or shipping lane anywhere in a flash. Even without North Korean-sized contraptions, the jamming can be substantial. Suitcase-sized devices on sale on the internet claim a range of 300-1,000 metres. To read more click here. <Return to top> The Republic (Columbus, Ind.), Illinois Spotlight: Marion using technology to map gravesites, July 25, 2013, By Scott Fitzgerald MARION, Illinois — City officials are beginning to use technology to help keep track of gravesites. "The cemetery has been a flagship for us. This is a project we started two or three years ago," said William Barrett, the city's 911 and geographic information system coordinator. Barrett and the city's Information Technology Director Terance Henry have worked to make gravesites in the city owned Rose Hill, Maplewood and Oddfellows cemeteries off Illinois 37 at the Illinois 13 intersection, traceable by way of computer technology. By Scott Fitzgerald. The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan. A final phase of marking global positioning system coordinates for about 35,000 gravesites is underway now and should be completed in a year, Barrett said, noting he has completed amassing data for about 350 gravesites. In addition to locating gravesites by way of satellite coordinates, the GPS installation will have precise information on each gravesite. In addition to helping families of buried loved ones, the information can be utilized for potential incidents of vandalism, disaster or other occurrences, Henry said. To read more click here. <Return to top> Farm Industry News, 10 technologies changing farm machinery, July 24, 2013, By Jodi Wehrspann This week 1,400 of the world’s foremost agricultural and biosystems engineers are meeting to discuss the latest advancements in farm machinery at the 2013 American Society of Agricultural and Biosystems

Engineers (ASABE) International Meeting, this year held in Kansas City, MO. Engineers from as far away as China get 15 minutes to present their latest research projects on everything from berry-picking equipment to swine housing. Their work is changing the mechanics of how farmers produce food, feed and fuel. “You can probably tell from presentation titles what the topics are,” says Mark Hanna, Iowa State University extension agricultural engineer, who moderated one of the sessions. “There are several papers on seeding mechanisms, followed by harvesting papers on a variety of crops like sorghum, yam, cherries, and combine fires in sunflowers. High-speed photography was used in one analysis. GPS positioning was used to place and retrieve storage bins during cherry harvest.” The list of projects takes up close to 100 pages in the program guide. Here’s a look at just 10 of them. Vehicle guidance lasers. Farm vehicles that steer themselves typically rely on GPS signals to chart their course. But engineers are looking at other types of sensors to supplement, and in some cases replace, satellite navigation. For example, Joon Yong Kim from Seoul National University in Korea is exploring the use of laser distance sensors to guide tractors and farm machinery without the need for an operator. Optical sensors, classified as vision guidance, also are being studied. Weeding robots: Lie Tang, Iowa State University-Ames, is developing a high-efficient weeding robot in crop fields. Tang is looking at using plant spacing information in stereo images to identify weeds within the rows. Similar research is taking place in China, where Chunlong Zhang, China Agricultural University in Beijing is studying the design of an intra-row weeding robot. To read more click here. <Return to top> Leadership Newspapers, How Technology Can Boost Farming, July 21, 2013, By Michele Oche Like every aspects of human life, modern researchers and technologists seek ways to boost lives. Agriculture is one of the oldest professions known to man, yet most African farmers still rely on crude implements for farming. Latest technology offers hope for farmers in areas of productivity and increased yield. About 70 per cent of Nigerians live in rural areas where they have access to fertile lands for farming, yet these vast lands have not aided cheap food supply because of poor yield recorded by farmers annually. These have made the sector less productive and unattractiv especially to the youths. Using modern technology, experts agree that agriculture will attract much-needed yields. Presently, agriculture is being run by the elderly people and those who are left with little or no options in life. But “technologising” the sector will benefit not only the farmers, but create millions of jobs by generating broader value chains. Nigeria farmers have witnessed some improvements like the use of modern irrigation technology which has made the availability of water easier. Modern Science has also made it easier for farm products to be transported to different parts of the country. For instance, there are refrigerated trucks used to transport fish and meat. Famers also have modern means of preserving their harvests. There are also chemicals used to increase the shelf lives of produce. Today there are palm oil mills, rice mills and

tomato processing plants unlike the olden days when most of produce processing was done manually. There are now improved bins, silos, rhombus for the efficient storage of farm produce. But beyond these, farms across the developed world have been infiltrated with high technologies. Tractors operated by touchscreens are becoming increasingly common. Words such as ‘remote sensing,’ ‘near-infrared,’ and ‘algorithm’ that evoke images of a space shuttle cockpit are steadily working their way into the vernacular of everyday farmers. To read more click here. <Return to top> WIS (Columbia, S.C.), High tech brings new methods to low tech farming, July 23, 2013, By PJ Randhawa According to the US Department of Agriculture, the average farmer in South Carolina is around 60 years old. It's an industry that employs more than 200,000 people in the Palmetto State. Now infused with high technology, the state's $34 billion agriculture industry is attracting the interest of a younger generation. "I think a lot of people have the picture in their mind of someone plowing with a mule or someone riding a tractor and plowing," said Aaron Wood, assistant commissioner for the Agriculture Department. But that's now a dated misconception that students at the Commissioners School of Agriculture are eager to challenge. "It's not very popular at all," said Lancaster High student Anna Scott. "Well normally I think people just expect their food to appear at the grocery store and they don't appreciate the work." To read more click here. <Return to top> Inside GNSS, Safety Board Says Connected Vehicle Technology Should Be Required to Prevent Collisions, Glen Gibbons, July 25, 2013 In a Tuesday (July 23, 2013) hearing on two fatal school bus/truck collisions, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended adoption of “connected vehicle technology” on all newly manufactured highway vehicles as a way to reduce such accidents. Such collision-avoidance systems — similar to those used in civil aviation — would typically depend on real-time transmissions of the GNSS-derived locations of nearby vehicles to provide enhanced “situational awareness” to drivers. Primary focus of the hearing was a Thursday, February 16, 2012, accident near Chesterfield, New Jersey, in which a school bus with 25 elementary students entered an intersection, failed to yield to an on-coming truck, and was struck behind the left rear axle. One bus passenger was killed and five others sustained serious injuries. (An animated recreation of the accident can be seen here.)

“Effective countermeasures are needed to assist in preventing intersection crashes, for example, systems such as connected vehicle technology could have provided an active warning to the school bus driver of the approaching truck as he began to cross the intersection,” an NTSB report on the accident stated. “Although the bus driver was adamant in his post-crash interview that he had pulled forward sufficiently to see clearly in both directions, he failed to see the oncoming truck and proceeded into its path.” The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) is working with automotive industry leaders on a connected vehicles program, Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP). To read more click here. <Return to top> WIRED, U.S. Navy Gets in on Drone Action With First Real Aircraft Carrier Landing, July 25, 2013, By Allen McDuffee The Navy’s X-47B drone completed its newest round of tests off the Virginia shore last week, making it the first pilotless unmanned jet in history to land aboard a moving aircraft carrier — one of aviation’s most challenging maneuvers. The Navy heralded the achievement as the future of warfare. “It isn’t very often you get a glimpse of the future,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus in a statement. “Today, those of us aboard the USS George H.W. Bush got that chance as we witnessed the X-47B make its first-ever arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier.” From the Navy’s standpoint, a favorable outcome would prove the continued relevance of aircraft carriers and the Navy’s ability to carry out extended missions beyond what traditional aircraft and their pilots could accomplish. This round of tests built on the successful launches from the USS George H.W. Bush in May, but this time with mixed results. The two experimental (putting the “X” in X-47B) drones, named Salty Dog 501 and 502, completed the first two carrier landings by deploying a tailhook that caught a wire aboard the ship, like standard fighter jets do, and previously only done by the drone on land. However, a third trial was aborted and a fourth was called off before it was even attempted. Two subsequent runs were cancelled, leaving the X-47B with a 2-2 carrier landing record. The X-47B, developed by defense giant Northrop Grumman, was funded under a 2007 contract initially worth $635.8 million that has ballooned to $1.4 billion. Northrop Grumman enlisted the help of a dozen other companies, including General Electric, Dell, Moog, and Lockheed Martin, to carry out the contract. But for a project with such a hefty price tag, the X-47B will never be put into operational use. Instead, next year, four companies are expected to compete for a contract to design the next version of the X-47B with an eye toward putting them in the air in 2020, according to the Navy. To read more click here. <Return to top>

The Deerfield Valley News (Vermont), Community hears plans for valley airport revitalization, by Jack Deming, July 25, 2013 WILMINGTON-Hermitage President Jim Barnes presented his vision for Deerfield Valley Airport to local town officials and residents Monday night at the Hermitage Inn. Barnes also took the opportunity to address the community’s many concerns about everything from noise pollution to traffic. Barnes purchased the airport in June and quickly began renovations, repaving the 2,600-foot potholed runway and cutting back trees on either side to create 250 feet of visibility horizontal to the runway. The airport terminal has also been renovated, with a lighting system upgrade, and new windsocks installed at both ends. Monday night’s presentation put the focus on what the airport can be and also what Barnes said it won’t be. The Hermitage recently purchased tax lots in the east tract from the town of Wilmington with the purpose of eventually expanding the runway to 5,000 feet. Barnes said the expansion will allow for a safer approach as well as an average of 12 flights per day. “Everything we’re doing here (with expansion) is about safety,” said Barnes. “Every pilot knows that length is safety. Crosswinds have always been a problem so the more length, the better to combat it.” Barnes detailed how Deerfield Valley Airport will be able to take advantage of its proximity to other airports as well. With Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, the United States’ busiest small jet airport, 40 minutes away, as well as the proximity of airports in Winchester, NY, Hartford, and Rhode Island, the airport will be able to accommodate more midweek travelers, as well as skiers for both Haystack and Mount Snow. To read more click here. <Return to top> TMF Associates MSS blog, No longer "highly confident," July 22, 2013, By Tim Farrar Back on May 31, LightSquared asserted in its motion to retain Jefferies as placement agent for its exit financing that “both LightSquared and Jefferies are highly confident [that the retention] will lead to fully committed financing in an amount likely in excess of the face amount of the Prepetition LP Obligations, the Prepetition Inc. Obligations, and the DIP Obligations at relatively low costs to the LightSquared estates”. Two weeks ago, I noted that LightSquared had been forced to scale down its planned $3B debt raise to $2B, and would seek to force Ergen/Sound Point to accept PIK second lien debt instead of being repaid from the exit facility. However, on Friday night LightSquared acknowledged that exclusivity had been lost and that competing plans for reorganization would be filed, followed by an auction of the company. Moreover, I’m told that today LightSquared and Jefferies dropped the planned exit financing facility completely (not just putting it “on hold” as was reported last week). Falcone apparently told potential investors that he was unwilling to go forward because the facility was “too expensive” (with warrants for 15% of LightSquared’s equity being granted upfront to potential lenders). However, I understand that the change of direction appears to have resulted from

LightSquared being hauled over the coals by the bankruptcy court last week for ignoring Ergen’s $2B cash offer, and the judge was unwilling to accept LightSquared’s contingent reorganization plan, which would have only been funded after FCC approval was received. As the Secured Lenders noted in their submission on July 9: “Since these Chapter 11 Cases were filed over a year ago, the Debtors have told the Court repeatedly that the only way to realize value is to pursue a resolution of their regulatory problems with the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”), and that all they needed was sufficient “runway” to achieve their objective. When the Cases were filed in May 2012, the Debtors believed they needed about six months to get there. In January 2013, during the exclusivity hearing, the Debtors’ management testified that they still needed about six months to clear the regulatory hurdles to value maximization. Today, they claim that their elusive objective remains six months or more away…In reality, the Debtors have no idea whether or when they will ever get regulatory approval.” Now LightSquared has set out a lengthy timetable for an auction in December 2013 (which is already subject to an objection from the Secured Lenders), because (in fantasyland) Harbinger is apparently highly confident that the FCC will approve LightSquared’s request in November, enabling them to raise money for a counterbid on the back of that approval, before the auction actually takes place. However, even if LightSquared’s proposed timetable is approved (and it appears that the judge is actually losing patience with the company’s repeated delays), it seems rather more likely that Falcone is instead going to be 0 for 3 in his battles with Ergen (with LightSquared following the path trodden by DBSD and TerreStar). To read more click here. <Return to top> ###