AT&T said it would turn over the airwaves, or spectrum, along with $3 billion in cash to T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG after pulling out of the deal as opposition mounted from the FCC, Justice Department, state attorneys general and rival carriers.

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Julius Genachowski on Wednesday made yet another call for Congress to speedily allow incentive auctions to free up badly needed spectrum for the wireless industry.

But while the content in the FCC chairman’s speech was familiar, his vehicle for delivering it was different. He’s given many speeches reading from a tablet, as he did in Vegas, but this was the first time he had done so on an Android model — a Samsung Galaxy 8.9.

“I’ve only done them on the iPad,” Genachowski said. “On my smartphones I’ve tried to make it a practice to switch them up.”

So how was it?

“It was all good,” Genachowski said, showing off his remarks on the Galaxy tab. His trusty iPad was nearby, which he used to dash off a quick email before our interview. “It was a seamless experience.”

As for the content of his talk, Genachowski focused on several points that are near and dear to his heart — first, that Congress enable the auctions quickly, and second, that it leave the FCC the option of keeping some of the spectrum freed up for unlicensed purposes.

“It would be a very serious mistake to pass incentive legislation and prohibit the FCC from using some spectrum for unlicensed (uses),” he said, echoing comments he made on a Silicon Valley swing late last year.

Such uses, he said, allow innovation that could provide for even more efficient spectrum usage than limiting it only to licensed purposes.

“We may see innovations there that lead to more efficient use,” he said. “To me, it’s a no-brainer.”

Genachowski said that allowing those with unused spectrum to auction it off could allow for the recovery of 100MHz of very high quality spectrum near the 700MHz band used for today’s 4G services.

“The work doesn’t end with incentive auctions, but incentive auctions are a sure way to provide very significant relief to spectrum.”

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Getting FCC clearance is a condition of a 15-year fourth-generation spectrum-and-equipment-sharing accord between the two companies. LightSquared has said the Sprint accord will help it save $13 billion through the end of this decade.

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The decision initially covers only one product, and is limited to the pilot city of Wilmington, N.C.

But backers of the technology hope those white spaces prove as big a boost to innovation as the unlicensed spectrum that gave birth to Wi-Fi.

“We see this as a multibillion-dollar industry,” said Rod Dir, CEO of Spectrum Bridge, the company whose database is a key component of the white spaces system approved by the FCC.

White spaces, for the uninitiated, are the spectrum spots in between TV channels. Like the 2.4GHZ spectrum used by several flavors of Wi-Fi, the white spaces are unlicensed spectrum, meaning any device that agrees to play nice with others and gains regulatory approval can operate in the frequency. Devices that are approved to operate in the white spaces spectrum are required to check in with a database to see which channels are available. (For more, check out AllThingsD’s handy FAQ post from last week.)

Over time, analysts imagine a range of wireless and wired devices that can use the white spaces as a sort of “Super Wi-Fi” that can operate over greater distance and perform better indoors.

For now, though, FCC approval is limited to fixed devices using a radio from one supplier, Koos Technical Services. Among the initial uses seen for white spaces are helping bring wireless internet to rural areas and municipal Wi-Fi to smaller cities.

While Wi-Fi often gets spotty after more than 100 meters, and signals often are stymied by walls, white-space signals can carry far further. They can go for several miles, albeit at slower speeds.

“The key element of that for us is the greater coverage that’s possible compared to other services,” said Bill Koos, president of KTS. The company has seen signals that can travel on average two to three miles via antennas that are no more than 30 or 40 feet high.

Some of the uses that have excited officials in Wilmington, Koos said, are the ability to monitor machines, offer wireless Internet access in public places, and even do some video surveillance. Although it doesn’t deliver the kind of speeds needed for, say, streaming Netflix, Koos said the signal is good enough for sending video security footage.

As the radio needed to access the white spaces is brought down to a single chip, the technology should find its way into other products, such as laptops, tablets and phones, perhaps by the middle of 2013. Because of its range and other advantages, Dir said, he expects cellular companies to eventually use the white spaces to handle data-intensive tasks when a signal is available.

“We believe the carrier will eventually migrate to TV white space for offload,” Dir said.

While that is certainly a possibility, wireless analyst Chetan Sharma expects to see the technology far sooner in devices other than cellphones, which are already crammed full of batteries that add cost and sap battery life. That said, the advantages of white spaces, especially its ability to work better indoors, make it a potentially attractive option to carriers struggling with heavy data demands and limited cellular spectrum.

“It remains to be seen,” Sharma said.

(Image credit: iStockphoto | gaiamoments)

This time it’s GoGo Inc., maker of GoGo Inflight Internet service, which you’ve probably used at some point if you’ve ever accessed Wi-Fi during a flight.

The company is filing for an initial public offering that could raise as much as $100 million.

GoGo’s S-1 doesn’t say how many shares it plans to sell or at what price. But it does plan to trade under the stock symbol — you guessed it — GOGO.

There are currently 1,177 commercial airplanes offering Internet access through GoGo: That’s about 85 percent of North America’s Internet-enabled commercial aircraft.

According to the filing, GoGo’s consolidated revenue increased to $113.8 million from $60.1 million, a year-over-year increase of 89.3 percent in the nine-month period ending in September. Despite increasing revenue, the company still lost $25.8 million in the first nine months of 2011.

A large portion of GoGo’s revenue comes from its customers in the business aviation market, for which it provides both broadband connectivity and satellite-based communications systems. GoGo’s business aviation arm has sold approximately 6,000 ATG and satellite-based communications systems for private planes and has signed agreements with all of the largest fractional jet operators, according to the filing.

On the the commercial side, the company cites the emergence of the “connected lifestyle” for consumers, coupled with the projected growth of the worldwide travel market, as evidence of demand for its in-flight product. In 2010, there were approximately 2.7 billion scheduled passengers on commercial aircraft worldwide, with 630 million in the U.S. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the number of passengers worldwide is expected to grow to nearly 3 billion by 2012.

GoGo plans to expand internationally and to penetrate even more of the business aviation market, with the number of business jets in the North American and global business markets expected to grow by 8.3 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively, by 2015.

One of Gogo’s biggest risks is its dependence on partnerships with North American airline fleets for about half of its consolidated revenue. Approximately 45 percent of its commercial airline revenue — generated within a nine-month period ending September 30, 2011 — was acquired through Delta Air Lines; approximately 18 percent came via GoGo’s partnership with American Airlines, whose parent company, AMR Corp., recently filed for bankruptcy.

The company also cites as risks the increasing demand for in-flight WiFi, and the possible incapacity to meet that demand, as well as the need to keep up with rapidly advancing technologies in network infrastructure.

Low on the risk list, though still worth noting, is that in June of 2006, Gogo purchased at auction a $31 million, exclusive 10-year license for three megahertz, air-to-ground spectrum, outbidding at the time JetBlue LiveTV LLC and a company called Space Data Spectrum Holdings. GoGo expects to renew that license, but the FCC could, in the future, decide to auction additional spectrum for ATG use that is not currently designated for that purpose.

Illinois-based GoGo Inc. was originally incorporated in Texas in June of 1991 as Aircell Inc., and later became Aircell Holdings Inc. On June 15 of this year, Aircell Holdings Inc. officially changed its name to Gogo Inc.

Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, UBS, Allen & Company, Evercore Partners and William Blair & Company are listed as the underwriters on the IPO filing.

Lest it remain a gray area to you, here are some answers to the most common questions:

What is this “white space,” anyway?

White space refers to the range of spectrum available in between the signals used by television stations. By allowing companies to build wireless devices in this area, the Federal Communications Commission is paving the way for new kinds of wireless devices.

What kinds of devices and services could run there?

Unlicensed spectrum opens the door to all kinds of uses, but the use most commonly talked about is to provide fixed and wireless broadband Internet services. It could also prove a good technology for moving video and other bulky data types around the home.

What advantage does white space technology have over today’s Wi-Fi?

Because the white space is in the lower frequencies, devices running in those frequencies could carry signals over longer distances and work better through walls and in other indoor environments.

Why hasn’t anyone used them before?

Although the FCC voted to go ahead with plans to allow devices in the white space as far back as 2008, it has taken until now to approve the first devices and address concerns about potential interference.

What are the concerns?

The biggest concerns have come from the TV industry, which had questions about interference with its signals and equipment; and from performers, broadcasters and others that use wireless microphones that operate in a similar frequency. Even Dolly Parton expressed some concerns early on.

How are these concerns being addressed?

The FCC is creating a way for those who are using wireless microphones to register them. Also, devices that want to access the white space range have to check in with a database to see what spaces are free in their particular area. In addition to approving the first device on Thursday, the FCC also approved the first such database.

“Interference issues won’t go away, but I think it is proven that the industry can use this kind of a model,” said wireless industry analyst Chetan Sharma.

How big a market could this be?

Microsoft, a big backer of opening up the spectrum, commissioned a study in 2009 that found that availability of white-space technology could increase just the Wi-Fi-like device market by $3.9 billion to $7.3 billion per year.

So, will this solve all of those worries about spectrum that Verizon and AT&T talk about?

Not directly. The White Space spectrum is unlicensed, meaning any approved device and service can run there. However, it could pave the way for phones and tablets to someday take advantage of white-space capacity on occasion, as is done with Wi-Fi today.

Sharma said to expect the first devices to use white spaces to be noncellular devices. By late 2012 or early the following year, though, we could start to see cellular phones and tablets that have the ability to use white-space services, where available. The big challenge there is it is yet another type of radio that would have to be built into phones — adding cost and complexity.

(Image credit: iStockphoto | gaiamoments)

The product getting the okay is designed to offer broadband service, and is made by a company called Koos Technical Services. KTS has been among the companies heavily involved in working with the FCC to test white-spaces devices.

The white spaces, though not without their challenges, are seen by proponents as offering some of the same potential uses as the unlicensed regions used by Wi-Fi. Because they operate at a lower frequency range, they offer the potential to work over a longer range and perform better indoors.

“With today’s approval of the first TV white spaces database and device, we are taking an important step towards enabling a new wave of wireless innovation,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement. “Unleashing white spaces spectrum has the potential to exceed even the many billions of dollars in economic benefit from Wi-Fi, the last significant release of unlicensed spectrum, and drive private investment and job creation.”

Approval is limited, for now, to service in Wilmington, N.C. But it’s a first step for an area that has long been talked about as rich for new innovation.

The FCC said the approval will be expanded nationwide once the government finishes establishing procedures for those using wireless microphones (which also operate in these areas of spectrum) to coexist with devices running in the white spaces.

Regulators have been looking to open up the spectrum for some time, and have worked to address objections from the TV industry (and performers including Dolly Parton), who have worried about potential interference. The FCC voted last year to formally open the spectrum up to devices, after granting initial approval back in 2008.

(Image credit: iStockphoto | gaiamoments)

“Leave the FCC the flexibility to make sure there is efficient use of spectrum, including unlicensed spectrum, so that we can adjust to the needs of the future,” Genachowski told AllThingsD in an interview. Genachowski was in town for an event announcing winners of a contest to develop community apps that make use of government data.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would include something the chairman badly wants: incentive auctions that would free up badly needed spectrum for wireless broadband. However, the bill also includes a provision that would limit the agency’s authority to manage unlicensed spectrum bands, something Genachowski opposes.

At one point during the event, held at the offices of Andreessen Horowitz, I asked for the password to the venture firm’s guest network.

“That’s why we need Wi-Fi,” Genachowski said, a reference to the fact that Wi-Fi is possible only because the FCC has been able to preserve and make available unlicensed bands of spectrum.

In a follow-up interview, he talked about the need for such spectrum.

“It takes spectrum that doesn’t lend itself for the same use (as that licensed to carriers and others) and says ‘Let’s put it out there as a platform for innovaton,’ not knowing exactly what will happen,” Genachowski said. “When the FCC first did this, no one knew that it would lead to Wi-Fi.”

Unlicensed spectrum has been used, he said, to help meet the challenges of lots of groups, including those faced by the wireless carriers that have licensed spectrum, Genachowski said.

“Wi-Fi itself has gone from something that was resisted by the licensed carriers to something that is now embraced because it is such an important part of addressing demands on spectrum. Wi-Fi offload is a critical part of the system.”

That’s Carrier IQ’s claim, anyway.

Responding to a Washington Post report claiming that the company is the subject of an official FTC investigation, Carrier IQ said this is not the case. While it is meeting with federal regulators, the company says it is doing so proactively. It wasn’t summoned to Washington as part of a formal inquiry.

“This week CarrierIQ sought meetings with the FTC and FCC to educate the two agencies about the functionality of its software and answer any and all questions,” the company said in a statement given to AllThingsD. “Although Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), co-Chairman of the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the practices of Carrier IQ, we are not aware of an official investigation into Carrier IQ at this time.”

In other words, there could be an official inquiry — the company just doesn’t know about it yet. And that may yet prove to be the case. The Washington Post says anonymous federal officials have confirmed the investigation, and the Post doesn’t often make such claims unless they’re bulletproof. So expect to hear more about this in the days ahead.

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The two companies on Monday filed a joint motion to stay their pending federal court case until at least January. The move clearly wasn’t AT&T’s idea, however. The Justice Department said last week it would seek a stay in the case given that AT&T had pulled its paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission.

“If approved by the court, all pretrial and trial deadlines, including depositions and discovery, would be cancelled and a status conference would be held before the court on Jan. 18,” the Justice Department said in a statement. The government said that under the joint plan, AT&T will file a status report with the court by noon on Jan. 12 indicating “whether they intend to proceed with the transaction at issue in the litigation, whether they intend to proceed with another transaction, the status of related proceedings with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and their plans and timetable for seeking any necessary approval from the FCC.”

In a statement on Monday, AT&T said it is working with T-Mobile on “whether and how” to proceed with the deal.

“AT&T is committed to working with Deutsche Telekom to find a solution that is in the best interests of our respective customers, shareholders and employees,” the company said. “We are actively considering whether and how to revise our current transaction to achieve the necessary regulatory approvals so that we can deliver the capacity enhancements and improved customer service that can only be derived from combining our two companies’ wireless assets.”

Until now, AT&T has plowed full steam ahead with the proposed $39 billion deal, despite objections from a long list of competitors and regulators, including the FCC, DOJ, Sprint and C Spire Wireless (formerly known as Cellular South).

With the Federal Communications Commission threatening to block the deal, and the Justice Department already suing to do the same, AT&T last month pulled its application before the FCC, in hopes that a court would take its side in the DOJ case. The company said it would deal with the FCC once a court heard its case with the Justice Department.

However, the DOJ one-upped the telecom giant on Friday, arguing that the court case should be put on hold, now that AT&T has yanked its application to the FCC to acquire T-Mobile’s licenses.

Check.

Your move, AT&T.

Update: For its part, AT&T general counsel Wayne Watts says the company is “anxious to bring to the American consumer the benefits of increased wireless network capacity and efficiencies that can only arise from combining the resources of AT&T and T-Mobile USA,” and is “eager” to present its case in court.

In a statement Friday, AT&T said commissioners won’t be able to vote a proposal announced Tuesday from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski that the $39 billion merger be sent before an administrative law judge. The carrier announced it had withdrawn its FCC application in the early hours of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.

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The Department of Justice has already filed suit seeking to block the deal, which requires approval from both agencies.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has circulated a draft opinion that would seek to have a hearing before an administrative law judge, though the commission is likely to hold that hearing only after the DOJ suit is decided. If the Justice Department is successful in its effort, the FCC move would be moot. However, AT&T now needs to go 2-for-2 if it hopes to complete the deal.

The decision is not shocking, given that the FCC had indicated it shared some of the Justice Department’s concerns.

However, what is noteworthy is just how strong the agency’s concerns are.

FCC officials said on Tuesday that the agency found in its review not only that the deal would hurt competition, but also that it represents an unprecedented reduction in competition. In every market except Omaha (where T-Mobile does not offer service), the agency found that the merger would reduce competition to a meaningful degree.

The agency staff also rejected AT&T’s claims that the deal would lead to a faster or more complete rollout of 4G. And, rather than create jobs, the FCC staff believes approval of the deal would actually lead to fewer U.S. jobs.

AT&T, naturally, said it was not thrilled with the decision.

“The FCC’s action today is disappointing,” said Larry Solomon, SVP of corporate communications. “It is yet another example
of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs at a time when the U.S. economy desperately needs both. At this time, we are reviewing all options.”

In addition to setting up a possible second court battle, the FCC findings also mean that any proposed settlement would have to satisfy two agencies, both of whom seem to see little merit — and lots of harm — in the deal. Oh yeah, Sprint and C-Spire Wireless have also filed suits of their own.

The move by Julius Genachowski, the FCC’s chairman, would be a setback for the two companies that are already facing opposition from the Justice Department, which filed a lawsuit to stop the deal. The FCC’s move would be another obstacle for the two companies to overcome. The agency’s hearing would happen the conclusion of the antitrust trial, according to this person.

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In a unanimous vote, the Federal Communications Commission’s commissioners approved a remake of the federal Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service in rural America and to low-income Americans. The agency will shift the fund’s $8 billion from funding phone service to high-speed broadband service over the next few years.

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The carrier also said it will promise that no U.S. call center jobs will be lost when the deal closes. The company didn’t say where the new jobs will be based.

“At a time when many Americans are struggling and our economy faces significant challenges, we’re pleased that the T-Mobile merger allows us to bring 5,000 jobs back to the United States and significantly increase our investment here,” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in a statement.

Of course, critics are sure to note that there’s nothing stopping AT&T from bringing back jobs without buying T-Mobile.

The deal, which is being opposed by Sprint and a number of consumer groups, requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice.

In a letter to the two companies, the FCC said that it needs more time to evaluate whether this deal, as well as AT&T’s planned $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA, are in the public interest.

“The Commission’s ongoing review has confirmed that the proposed transactions raise a number of related issues, including, but not limited to, questions regarding AT&T’s aggregation of spectrum throughout the nation, particularly in overlapping areas,” the FCC said in the letter. “As a result, we have concluded that the best way to determine whether either or both of the proposed transactions serve the public interest is to consider them in a coordinated manner at this time, without prejudice to independent treatment at a later date.”

Sprint praised the enhanced scrutiny of the Qualcomm deal as well as the notion of reviewing it in conjunction with the proposed AT&T-T-Mobile deal.

“Given the complexity of the regulatory review of both proposed transactions, it’s a reasonable step for the FCC to coordinate the two reviews,” Sprint VP of government affairs Vonya McCann said in a statement. “The proposed transactions would produce game-changing effects on consumers and on competition in the wireless market. Over the next few months, we look forward to working with the FCC and other interested parties as the FCC conducts a coordinated review of the two transactions.”

Although it halted the clock and indicated it was reviewing the two deals in tandem, the FCC did not formally merge its review of the two transactions, which AT&T held out as something of a victory.

“We believe the Qualcomm transaction stands on its own merits,” AT&T spokesman Michael Balmoris said in a statement. “We are pleased that the Commission has rejected calls to officially consolidate the two deals and has expressly preserved the ability for the Qualcomm application to be resolved in advance of the T-Mobile application. We remain confident that the FCC will approve the license transfers as consistent with the public interest.”

The deal with Industry Canada calls for the sharing of commercial spectrum in the 700 megahertz band as well as some spectrum in the 800 MHz band, while the deal with Mexico’s Secretariat of Communications and Transportation is focused solely on the 700 MHz band.

“These arrangements will unleash investment and benefit consumers near the borders by enabling the rollout of 4G wireless broadband service and advanced systems for critical public safety and emergency response communications,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement.

Reid’s plan, which is expected to come to the Senate floor for a vote today, would raise $24.5 billion over 10 years, of which $13.1 billion would be available for deficit reduction, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

So how does $13 billion help solve a $14.3 trillion problem? It helps fills some of the gaps by making the bill more palatable to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. As one wireless industry lobbyist put it, spectrum auctions are in large part seen as politically neutral territory because they’re not tax increases that Republicans would oppose, and they’re not spending cuts, which so irritate Democrats.

The Reid plan is a variation of one put forth by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat and chairman of the Commerce Committee which oversees wireless spectrum issues. Rockefeller’s plan would have raised $6.5 billion. Both plans essentially call for setting aside a big block of wireless spectrum, known as the D Block, for public safety. It would give the FCC authority to auction off TV spectrum currently held by TV broadcasters, and pay for financial incentives to entice them to voluntarily give that spectrum up. Broadcasters are generally not inclined to give it up, however.

There’s also a spending component to the plan. The D Block spectrum set aside for public safety agencies would be used to create a national wireless broadband network that emergency officials could use during an emergency. This is an idea that’s been rolling around Washington since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Rockefeller’s plan calls for $12 billion to begin construction of the network, plus a few billion for research and development into additional uses for the network. Reid’s bill drops the R&D funding and cuts the construction funds to $7 billion. It’s not enough to build the network, but more of a down payment, meaning there’s a good chance that lawmakers will have to find some money to finish the job in a few years.

Reid’s bill would also direct the Federal Communications Commission auction of airwaves — currently held by government agencies like the U.S. Department of Defense — that aren’t being actively used. In addition, it would encourage TV broadcasters to voluntarily give up some of their unused spectrum for auction by offering them part of the proceeds.

What would all that spectrum be used for? The expectation is that wireless carriers like Verizon Wireless and AT&T would bid on it in order to expand their wireless broadband networks, and thus give smartphone users more bandwidth to slake their apparently insatiable digital thirst.

Just because spectrum auction revenue is neither a tax increase nor a spending cut doesn’t mean there’s no opposition. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican and 2008 GOP presidential nominee, blasted the plan and called it a “cop-out” from the Senate floor. Meanwhile, Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, told Politico earlier this week that the debt bill is the wrong place to debate wireless spectrum.

It wouldn’t be the first time that wireless spectrum has figured in the budget-balancing and deficit-reduction process. Revenue generated from spectrum auctions helped then-President Bill Clinton balance the budget in 1993 and 1997, and President George W. Bush used them to help reduce the federal budget deficit in 2005.

(Image from Harry Reid’s campaign site.)

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and attorney general Tuesday, Franken said the deal would lead to “an effective duopoly” in the national wireless market and inevitably lead to both higher prices and job losses.

“My examination of this transaction has led me to conclude that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile would substantially lessen competition in the already highly concentrated wireless communications market,” Franken said in the filing. “In addition to my antitrust concerns, I am convinced that this type of horizontal consolidation does not serve the public interest.”

Franken’s objections follow that of Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl, who went public with his opposition to the deal last week.

The deal needs the blessing of both the FCC and the Department of Justice. Sprint has vocally opposed the deal, along with a handful of public interest groups and smaller carriers, while AT&T has won backing from a number of high-tech firms, labor groups and others. AT&T said in its earnings call last week that it remains confident it will win approval for the deal.

The New York-based firm of Bursor & Fisher law firm filed a 236-page arbitration demand on Thursday, alleging that the proposed deal would harm competition in violation of the Clayton Antitrust Act.

Although the deal already requires approval from the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission, the law firm is seeking to represent individual AT&T customers who want to bring their own legal challenges to the deal.

“Government enforcement is an important part of the antitrust laws, but the Clayton Act also permits private parties who may be adversely affected to challenge a proposed merger,” attorney Scott Bursor said in a statement. “That means any AT&T cellphone, data or iPad customer who will suffer higher prices and diminished service because of this merger can sue to stop it from happening.”

The firm, which has set up a Web site arguing its case, said it plans to file additional arbitration cases on Friday, with hopes of filing hundreds of such cases. AT&T’s standard contract terms prevent class-action suits but allow for disputes to be brought up for arbitration, at AT&T’s expense.

In an interview, Bursor talked about how that could help in this case.

“If we bring 100 cases and we lose 99 of them we are going to win,” Bursor told AllThingsD. “We just need one arbitrator to say, ‘Wait a minute, this merger is going to hurt competition.’”

Bursor and his firm have been involved in other consumer suits against the wireless industry, including a class-action suit against Sprint Nextel over its early termination fees and another dispute with AT&T over the locking of handsets.

An AT&T representative was not immediately available for comment.

AT&T has lined up backing from a number of governors and other elected officials, as well as high-tech firms, labor and other groups; meanwhile, Sprint has been fighting the deal, along with several consumer groups and smaller wireless carriers. This week, Senator Herb Kohl, a top democrat on antitrust matters, called on the federal government to block the deal.

In its earnings call on Thursday, AT&T said it remains confident the deal will win approval and close in the first quarter of next year, despite the objections.

With the new money, LightSquared has pulled in $2.3 billion in funding over the last 12 months.

“This latest round of financing signals another endorsement by the financial markets of our business model, and LightSquared’s intent to use private capital to build out a new network to meet the growing demand across this entire nation for wireless broadband access,” LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the company is also working to address concerns that there could be interference with GPS systems if LightSquared builds its network on the spectrum it currently has a license for.

Last week the company submitted a plan to the Federal Communications Commission that it says takes care of 99.5 percent of interference issues.

“In contrast, the GPS device manufacturers, unlike relevant government agencies, have been largely uninterested in finding a win-win solution,” LightSquared said in a statement. “Rather, their only answer to a problem of their own making is to demand that the government simply block LightSquared from using the company’s own spectrum to roll out the first wholesale-only wireless broadband network for the entire nation -– an economic benefit worth as much as $120 billion to consumers.”

The Federal Communications Commission’s 78-page request asks AT&T 50 detailed questions about its spectrum holdings, its network and its contention that it needs T-Mobile’s airwaves to provide nearly seamless mobile broadband service across the U.S.

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The Federal Communications Commission’s latest assessment of competition in the wireless industry is likely to be closely read by industry observers hoping to find clues as to how the agency will rule on AT&T Inc.’s proposed $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom AG. The FCC and the Justice Department are reviewing the deal.

The FCC’s annual report on competition in the wireless industry, which could be released next month, is expected to conclude–as it did last year–that the wireless-phone market has grown more concentrated over the years. But the agency will remain neutral on whether the wireless industry is competitive, sources said.

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