you recently held a hearing around lightsquared. what was that hearing about and what did you learn? guest: we have been trying to get information from lightsquared, because the information we have been able to ascertain thus far is that this ground-based broadband network that lightsquared wants to put in place is being fast track through the fcc. and this administration is pushing the fcc to approve ishtsquared's spectrum which adjacent to the gps spectrum. everything that we hear from all lightsquared is that this spectrum, if it is ground-based, is going to interfere with everybody's gps in their cars and interfere with the highly that the gpeseses science and the military community uses. so the high precision gps is probably going to be interviewed byk b-- interfered with lightsquared going ahead. the spectrum was designed for low intensity. it was designed to be a signal broadcast from satellites. but lightsquared is trying to push it through, and this administration seems to be doing it also . we have gone through a lot of do

up next, a political discussion about the issues surrounding lightsquared. and now joining us on "the communicators" is fred schulte, he's with i-watch news where he's a senior reporter, and he's also with the center for public integrity. mr. schulte, why has cpi been writing a series of articles or you specifically been writing a series of articles about lightsquared and its white house connections? >> guest: well, my colleagues and i have been writing about, first of all, about bundlers to the 2008 obama presidential campaign. those were the donors who put together large groups of donations of $50,000 or more and maybe even up to $500,000. and we were looking at what kinds of -- what they got, and did they get anything for their money, or were they getting jobs, were they getting access to the white house, were they getting contracts and that sort of thing. so we've written a number of stories about a number of different companies that have sort of been swept up in this whole political question, one of which was lightsquared. >> host: and what did you find

congressman broun the recently held a hearing around lightsquared. what was that hearing about and what did you learn? >> guest: and we have been trying to get information from lightsquared because the information that we have been able to ascertain does far is that this ground-based broadband network that lightsquared wants to put in place is being fast-tracked through the fcc and this administration is pushing the fcc to approve lightsquared's spectrum which is right adjacent to all the gps spectrum. everything we hear from all experts is that the spectrum if it is ground-based is going to interfere with everybody's gps in their cars. it is going to interfere also with the highly technical gps's that the science community utilizes and the aviation community utilizes an particularly that the military uses so the high percentage of gps probably is going to be interfered with by lightsquared's going ahead with their ground-based system. now the spectrum was designed for a very low intensity signal that was designed to be a signal that was broadcast fo

lightsquared technology may interfere with gps equipment. >> sanjiv ahuja is the ceo of lightsquared. what is lightsquared, and what you do? >> what lightsquared is trying to do is build and nationwide industrial broadband network working with the satellite. that will connect americans coast to coast for the first time. every square inch of american soil will be able to be connected, whether it is hawaii, alaska, california, maine, to florida. if you can look of the americans guy, you can talk on the phone. for the first time -- look at the american sky, you can talk on the phone. for the first time, americans will have connectivity, even if there are national -- natural disasters and other things happening, through a satellite network. the technology will be built to date, but complemented with the satellite we launched last year, the largest commercial satellite ever, so that whether you are in yellowstone national park, grand canyon or the appalachian trail, you are connected. >> are you operational now? >> know. our satellite is operational. we're in the process of moving customer

ahuja is the chairman and ceo of a company called lightsquared. mr. ahuja, what is lightsquared and what do you do? >> guest: thanks for inviting me to the show. cecilia, thank you very much for being here, and good morning to both of you. what lightsquared is trying to do is gain nationwide industrial broadband network, working with our satellite. that will enable americans coast-to-coast for the first time every square inch of american soil will be able to be connected, whether it is hawaii, alaska, california, maine, the florida. if you can look at the american sky, you can talk on a phone. and for the first time, americans will have access to conductivity, even if there are natural disasters and other things happening through our satellite network. we are building a network which is going to be the most comprehensive network, using fourth generation technology built to date your but complemented with a satellite we launched last year it is the largest commercial satellite ever. so whether you're in yellowstone national park, grand canyon, or a

lightsquared is a business. you will benefit in the billions as well. >> the process that is really relevant here is 2003 and 2005 process. 2010, the change of control was a several months long process. i don't know how we could have been longer and more detailed or a more comprehensive process. this is as comprehensive and processes i have seen anywhere, globally, on any spectrum change of control or any companies change of control. so we went through a very expensive process, and that required us to commit $14 billion of investment, private investment which we had to go out and raised a substantial amount of that money from private investors to invest in the u.s. infrastructure. so we had to go in convinced the investors, several of them, that this is a good opportunity. it benefits american consumers, but also it has to be a good economic opportunity that we could gather and invest into this company. they have invested over the last year, we have raised from several investors over $2.50 billion for this compa

let me walk you through the history of lightsquared. this company's predecessor was formed in 1980s, and the spectrum was allocated in 1989. that's when there were no auctions and companies got spectrum as they needed them. a lot of the current large operators came in existence at the time. this spectrum originally allocated for satellite purpose. it worked through in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005 under republican administrations. getting permissions from the fcc to build a terrestrial network, that time gps industry council participated in the process and supported the process, and they made comments on our network design. we talked about how we would live as good neighbors because gps spectrums next door to the lightsquared spectrum. we defined rules that lightsquared will not transmit into the gps spectrum. that required us to make investment that we would build a big wall on our side that we would not transmit over. in 2010, when we were asking for a change of control when we acquired the predecessor company to lightsquared called sitara,

prior to joining lightsquared, mr. carlisle served as deputy chief and later chief of the wider line competition bureau, where he managed the development of the commission's broadband policies. he has over a decade of experience in telecommunications law. welcome. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman, ranking member, members of the committee, think you for having me here today to talk about lightsquared and gps. one thing that's very important to understand up front, and my colleagues on the panel here or going to clearly make the case that gps is important to them and nobody in my company doubts that one bit. in fact gps is crucial to us we have to have a functioning gps system to coordinate the systems on our network, and the people who bring devices to our network are all going to have gps devices, gps receivers built into their devices. so no debate about gps is important and crucial to the american economy. we use it every day and it is important to the safety of life. there's another important issue so that is pa

sanjiv ahuja is the chairman and ceo of lightsquared. lightsquared.com if you want more information or to see the full page ad. cecilia kang, tech reporter with the "washington post." >> host: this is the communicators program, and this is the second half of the interview with sanjiv ahuja, chairman and ceo of lightsquared. cecilia kang is the guest reporter. cecilia kang? >> guest: you are right now at the subject as well as the regulatory agency, the federal communications commission, of at least two investigations by people, lawmakers on capitol hill. there's a lot of question as to whether relationships that the companies had with the white house and meetings with the fcc, a fast process some say at the fcc for getting approve -- approvals you need to get up and running. you defend yourself in full page ads as peter mentioned. what's wrong here? are you misunderstood in your mind, and if why, can you explain? >> guest: lightsquared has gone through, in my recollection, probably the most extensive regulatory process i've seen anywhere

prior to joining lightsquared, mr.lisle served as deputy chief and later chief of the wider line competition bureau, where he managed the development of the commission's broadband policies. crucial to us. we have to have this functioning the gps system to gordon-reed the systems on the network and people who bring devices are all going to have gps devices. gps receivers built into their devices so no debate about the gps is important and crucial to the economy we use it every day and it's important to the safety of life. there is another important issue that's particularly relevant to this committee and that affect small businesses suffer from a lack of trees and their ability to get wireless service to the committee recognized this numerous times. lightsquared is building a network that would just bring one competitor to the market but will bring dozens of competitors. we have already over 17 business partners waiting to have our network ready to those of the console broadband services. this is to enable them to lower

they can do it with lightsquared for $0. we keep it open to all of these entrepreneurs to come and test their devices, test their applications, test their games, test agriculture applications to the most advanced business-to-business applications so that they can deliver that. so when you talk of economic opportunity, it's not just about lightsquared. it's an economic opportunity for engineers, people like my children, people like your children, our friends, our relatives. that's what this is about. >> host: mr. ahuja, do you think the verizon, at&t, the comcast are trying to squeeze, you think maybe some of the recent noise about lightsquared has been raised by some of the larger established wireless companies? >> guest: peter, as i explain to you we are building a network which is wholesale only. this industry has a business model which is completely vertically integrated. wireless operators do everything. they give you the network. they build the network. they operate the network. they manage the network. they have retail

the's the lightsquared network and the users of gps who are going to be affected. the have conveniently left themselves o of the equation. i don't think that the user should have to pay a cent. we have already paid, and the total value of the commitment is over $160 million at this point to solve the problem for the vast majority of consumer devices. for these precision devices where there is no solution that we can put on our transmission except to abandon the band entirely, given we are talking about 100 to 2,000 devices may be a few more than that but that is the order of magnitude we are talking about coming and that our power levels have been for six years that that is the right outcome. >> very good. now i want to go to mr. greenup. i come from a large agricultural area. have you done any looks at me be if things need to be switched around how long it has to be down, how that will affect like a single contractor versus a large family farm? >> i haven't put any numbers per say but one of the things with agriculture is it is three time sensitive, and it's one o

prior to joining lightsquared, mr. carlisle served as deputy chief and later chief of the wider line competition bureau, where he managed the development of the commission's broadband policies. but will bring dozens of competitors to the market. we already have over 17 business partners who are waiting for us to have our network ready to go so they can start selling broadband. but the effect of is this is to enable them to lower prices to end users and small businesses and people who need it most, better connect tivity to rural areas which historically have been on the short end of the stick when it comes to wireless networks and will be so when it comes to broad band networks. and this is a problem we have to deal with. the lack of effective infrastructure makes america 15th in the world in terms of adoption. in less than two years we will have too little devices and too much spectrum. we are the only one with that in that time frame. and there will always be issues with existing use of of spectrum when you have that

and then i'd like to invite everybody to my hearing on lightsquared. this user fee is something that concerns me in a big way, and i think it's going to hinder us, hinder us considerably. with that, i'll yield back, and i appreciate mr. boswell yielding me his time. >> thank you. mr. lipinski. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you for holding this hearing. very briefly, jerry, i wanted to echo my colleague's comments about how much we will miss you here in the committee and congress. but most importantly, want to congratulate you on making everything that you've done and making this decision. i always think about the fact that my predecessor, my father who retired from here seven today that he looks younger now than he did seven years ago when he was still here. so you have that to look forward to, certainly. we all know that nextgen's vital for the future of aviation in the our nation, and i want to commend chairman and ranking member's efforts to insure that we see some real near-term benefits from the program. for northeastern illinois rea

. >> this week on "the communicator's," a one hour interview with sanjiv ahuja, the ceo of lightsquared. he discusses the science, engineering, cost and political challenges of building a broadband network, as well as

. >> the head of lightsquared on his company's efforts to build a high-speed, wireless network amid reports that the network might interfere with consumer and military global positioning equipment. "the communicators," tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. this morning, david savage discusses the upcoming supreme court term, which opens today. then thomas evans, president and c.e.o. of bank rate, talks about the impact of a new rule which took effect saturday that limits the fees banks can charge merchants every time a consumer uses a debit card to make a purchase. and later, ladonna

. >> the head of lightsquare. "the communicators," to mine at 8:00 p.m.rn on c-span2. >> charles evans lost his bid for the presidency. he served as a secretary of state and the chief justice of the u.s. he is one of the 14 men featured in "the contenders." friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. for a preview, watch a number of videos about him and our special website -- at our special website. >> "washington journal" continues. host: thomas evans is president and ceo of bankrate. we're hearing that banks will make customers pay for the use of debit cards. guest: this was just legislated and requires limits on debit swipe fees that banks can charge a retail. it goes from 44 cents to 24 cents. so banks are losing that income. that is not an insignificant amount of money for those debit swipes. that is what is coming out of their bottom line. host: there is a report from times tim"the new york times." other banks are planning to do this too. guest: chase and wells fargo are testing a $3 fee. a number of banks are trying to get a competitive advantage. citibank said t

lightsquared said it would take legal action if the federal communications commission does not give thefor its cellphone tires around the country. the gps industry says that it will interfere with their receivers. the house small business committee will take a look at those claims later today. we will have live coverage at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> find the relate -- the latest release is for your fall reading list on book tv. jacqueline kennedy's taped conversations, carolyn can all the presenting them, with the discussion. september 19, 57, linked forever and i central photograph. examining both of the lives. pulitzer prize winner daniel juergen on the impact the oil industry has on the environment. find the book tv schedule online at our website. >> @ "washington journal" is next. we will take your calls, e- mails, and tweets. the house is back later for general speeches. at noon, they will work on most trade agreements. live coverage at 10:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. coming up this hour, we will get an update on the plot to kill saudi arabia's ambassador to the u.s.. hous

. >> ♪ >> last monday, lightsquared, company efforts to build a $14 billion high-speed wireless networkress time americans will have access to a connectivity even if the there are natural disasters and other things happening through the satellite networks. >> tonight, questions on the company goals and possible gps interference subcommittee chairman paul brown, coalition to save our gp member jim kirkland, and fred schulte, a decline eastern on c-span2. -- at 8:00 eastern. >> c-span helps you navigate the political landscape with twitter feeds and facebook updates from the campaign, candidate bios, and polling data, and links to a c-span media partners in the early primary and caucus states. all at c-span.org/campaign2012. every monday at this time we have a chance to find out about not only what federal program's cost, but also what they do. today a look into a farm subsidy programs. our guest is charles abbott, agricultural reporter for reuters. president obama wants to cut farm programs by $33 billion over 10 years. how much of these cuts would come from subsidies? guest: almost all

. >> the head of lightsquared on his company's efforts on building a $14 billion high- speed wireless network. there are reports that it might interfere with global positioning equipment for the military. that is tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> the house will consider a spending bill that will keep the federal government open for another six weeks, through mid- november, and the senate is proposing a bill dealing with china's currency. watch our live coverage of the house on c-span, and the senate on c-span2. and use our comments of resource on congress to get more information about your elected officials. c-span's congressional chronicle, including video of every house session, voting records, committing hearings, and more. it is washington your way. this is the networks, created by cable, provided as a public service. >> now remarks from illinois congressman on the creation of the congressional israel caucus. we will hear about the history of the u.s.-israel relationship and why many feel is still important politically. the hudson institute held an all-day conference loo

site in case you would like to see their reports or read the e-mails between the white house and lightsquared officials. mr. schulte is a four-time pulitzer prize finalist, he spent much of his career at the baltimore sun and the south florida sun sentinel. he's received the george polk award to investigative reporter and editors award, three gerald lobe awards for business writing. mr. schulte, thank you for being on "the communicators." >> guest: well, thank you, peter. it was my pleasure. >> just ahead, journalist katie couric, supreme court justice apt anyone scalia and paul are among the speaker at the annual washington ideas forum hosted by the aspen institute and the atlantic. and later john mchugh gives a live speech to the annual meeting of the association of the u.s. army on pentagon budget cuts and other issues. >> supreme court justice antonin scalia, journalist katie couric and paul ryan were among the speakers at the recent annual washington ideas forum. it featured leaders from government, business, and education the media to talk about a range of issues that made news during t

site in case you would like to see their reports or read the e-mails between the white house and lightsquared officials. mr. schulte is a four-time pulitzer prize finalist. he spent much of his career at the baltimore sun in the south florida sun sentinel. he is received the george polk award to investigative reporter and editors award, three gerald loeb awards for business writing. mr. schulte thank you for being on "the communicators." >> guest: thank you, it was my pleasure. >> it'd affect a story on the topic of your choosing. per good story has a good beginning, a solid middle and a strong ending. >> what you think we should do for this year's c-span student competition? >> today cell phones and flip cam's do a great job of catching video. if you don't have access to better video equipment don't let that stop you. if you need a little bit more help go to studentcam.org. >> this process can be confusing at first but it will help you stay organized. i find useful to read the rules very carefully and then make a checklist of what you need to do but don't worry, the process becomes clear onc

. >> the ceo of lightsquared to build a high-speed wireless network. at 8:00municator's" eastern on c-span2. today marks the start of the supreme court fall term. at a preview this morning on this morning's washington journal. "washington journal" continues. host: david savage, thank you for being here. you can got your story writi that the supreme court opens one of its most anticipated terms in which a justice can strike down the obama healthcare lost, and declare an end to affirmative action in colleges and universities. it could be a very dynamic term. guest: not say -- they have a lot of blockbuster cases in the next few weeks. health care and immigration are big issues. they will hear these cases all next year and hand out rulings about this next summer in the middle of the presidential election campaign. health care is an issue dividing republicans and democrats. immigration is an issue that has come up around the country. questions like if the state of arizona can pass tough immigration reforms. it is a big issue. it will be an interesting term

could you please address how the reform deals, would relate to lightsquared quick specifically would they be able to provide services of unlicensed wireless provider and with it and when would they be available for founding? >> well, on the unlicensed these, i'll have to get back to you because i'm just, i'm not certain how to answer the question about what the item does with respect to unlicensed so we will get back to you on that. i apologize. >> they are not licensed yet for broadband mobile broadband, when would they be, when will the funds be available for than? >> i'm going to let the staff people go through this specific timing on the mobility fund. the key points on the mobility fund are that, for the first time, the commission our country is recognizing mobility as universal service goal. and is looking not, what does that mean? he means not looking just at conductivity in the home but recognizing that if, when you travel between home and work you lose mobile coverage, that's an issue. if you have an accident on the road and you don't have mobile coverage, that's an issue. i

the website in case you like to see the reports or read the e-mails between the white house and lightsquared. mr. fred schulte is he has received the editors award, three awards for business writing. thank you for being on the communicators. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> next, a supreme court argument on the case involving cory maples. alabama state attorneys then borrowed -- barred him from appeal because of he defaulted. the supreme court is expected to render a decision before the end of the term lynching. this is about one hour. >> thank you, mr. chief justice. may it please the court. two factors distinguish this case. first, the state itself had a direct hand in the extraordinary events leading up to the default in this case. a second, the actions of maple's attorneys are not attributable to maples that this court has invoked in determining when conduct can be with a client. it the default at issue in this case is not fairly attributable to cory maples. the decision of the 11th circuit should be rever

there's the lightsquared network and the users of gps who are going to be affected. the have conveniently left themselves out of the equation. i don't think that the user should have to pay a cent. we have already paid, and the total value of the commitment is over $160 million at this point to solve the problem for the vast majority of consumer devices. for these precision devices where there is no solution that we can put on our transmission except to abandon the band entirely, given we are talking about 100 to 200,000 devices may be a few more than that but that is the order of magnitude we are talking about coming and that our power levels have been for six years that that is the right outcome. >> very good. now i want to go to mr. greenup. i come from a large agricultural area. have you done any looks at me be if things need to be switched around how long it has to be down, how that will affect like a single contractor versus a large family farm? >> i haven't put any numbers per say but one of the things with agriculture is it is three time sensitive, and it's o