LightSquared is Dead (For Now)

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it won't let Philip Falcone's LightSquared Inc. begin service after an Obama administration adviser found that the wireless venture disrupts navigation gear.

Federal agencies have determined that LightSquared's signals interferes with global-positioning system devices, Tammy Sun, an FCC spokeswoman, said today in an e-mailed statement. The FCC is preparing to withdraw the preliminary approval it granted last year for LightSquared to build a high-speed network serving as many as 260 million people, Sun said.

That's good news for everyone from farmers and motorists to pilots, but you've got to imagine that the greedy fuckers behind LightSquared have at least a six pack of high-priced lawyers who are geared up to fight this in court. This is why:

The rejection is a blow to [billionaire Philip] Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, which has invested about $3 billion in LightSquared. Harbinger lost 47 percent for investors in its main hedge fund last year as Falcone, 49, was forced to cut the value of Reston, Virginia-based LightSquared by more than half.

Oh, they'll fight it. But since hedge funds are the financial equivalent of betting on horses, those clowns should indeed lose big once in awhile.