RESTON, Va. and FT. WORTH, Texas, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — LightSquared™, a wholesale carrier building a nationwide wireless broadband network that will create consumer choice and drive industry innovation, and Telecom Ventures have announced a wholesale agreement that will enable Telecom Ventures’ two entities, Assist Wireless and New-Talk, to deliver branded mobile broadband services to underserved customers.
Both Assist Wireless and New-Talk are certified as Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) providers by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), allowing them to offer subsidized telephone services, better known as Lifeline, to low-income subscribers.
Assist Wireless, which targets unbanked and underbanked consumers, provides wireless services to tens of thousands of customers in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri and Oklahoma, and plans to expand its footprint to several other states, including California, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Texas. New-Talk offers local phone services to a growing base of thousands of customers in Texas, which include a range of value-added services, including bilingual customer representatives and the ability to check account balances, pay bills and view invoices online.
With LightSquared, Assist Wireless and New-Talk will now be able to offer reliable, world-class mobile broadband data services at competitive prices to their Lifeline customers.
“Access to advanced mobile broadband services will open up vast opportunities for our customers,” said Byron Young, chief executive officer of Telecom Ventures. “With LightSquared’s unique business model and state-of-the-art technology, we can deliver affordable, reliable access to our growing base of subscribers across the country, and ensure they won’t get caught in the digital divide.”
With Telecom Ventures, LightSquared now has wholesale agreements with 39 wholesale customers. These customers include wireless carriers, device manufacturers, nationwide retailers, regional phone companies, CLECs, mobile content providers and others who plan to use LightSquared’s network to offer competitively-priced wireless service to their customers.
“LightSquared’s mission is to ensure that more than 260 million people have access to wireless broadband services,” said Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared. “Telecom Ventures shares our belief in the importance of delivering these services to underserved markets, and in the process, democratizing wireless for all Americans.”
