Skype co-founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, have always worked secretly on a number of projects, without letting many know that the mastermind behind such beautiful concepts is them. Once again the fact is proved. One of the co-founders, Niklas Zennstrom, along with his venture capital firm Atomico were the driving force behind FreedonPop, who are now teaming up with LightSquared. This partnership aims to provide broadband and voice services to all Americans at no charge.
Team FreedonPop, which is set to launch next year, have signed a wholesale network agreement with LightSquared to offer free 4G service starting next year. The deal was announced, early this week.
LightSquared is a potential partner as it is currently building a nationwide 4G LTE network integrated with satellite coverage that will be wholesale only. One can expect this network to come online in the second half of 2012.
The claims from FreedomPop notes that when this service comes online, it would first target the “underserved markets”, but ultimately will move forward to its main objective, that is “to ensure that every American has access to fast, free and convenient communication services.”
Matt Ingrid, FreedomPop’s chief operating officer, said in a statement, “With the economic efficiencies delivered by LightSquared’s wholesale business model, we can achieve our objective to deliver flexible high-speed wireless access to anyone at a fraction of the cost and inconvenience seen in today’s market.”
Talking about LightSquared’s vision, it was noted that they even aim to bring connectivity to all Americans. Sanjiv Ahuja, chairman and chief executive officer of LightSquared said, “FreedomPop represents the kind of disruptive service model that LightSquared is enabling, and shares our belief that broadband access is a right for everyone.” He even noted, “Our nationwide network will allow FreedomPop to make a profound impact by delivering affordable high-speed wireless access to underserved communities across the country.”
Team LightSquared, with satellite coverage, offers people the speed, value and reliability of universal connectivity, wherever they are in the United States. Moreover, as a wholesale-only operator, it will work to 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.
Interestingly, a skeptical person might still wonder as to how did the company move so quickly from “free” to “fraction of the cost”. The reason might be that the operation and deployment of LightSquared’s network represent more than $14 billion of private investment over the next eight years. Looking at the investment involved in here, the rise in the cost can be marginally justified.
The usage of this service might open doors for a number of prospects in the future for the Americans.