With FiberLight Deal Dead, Globalstar Still Hopes to Monetize 2.4 GHz Band, CEO Says

financial shortfall, said CEO Jay Monroe, also Thermo controlling shareholder, in a Q2 call Thursday evening. He said Globalstar and Thermo mutually called off the deal, including because of the expected cost of litigation to defend it, uncertainty about closing such as timing, stock price volatility and expectations the deal would be "a prolonged distraction" to management. He said Globalstar has been having talks with cable, wireless and telecom companies since 2013 as it tries to monetize its spectrum, and the FiberLight deal was envisioned in 2017 as a backup route to covering its capital needs in case no deal with a third party occurred. He said Globalstar ended its Thermo talks in September and at the same time had formal discussions with senior officers of 20 major cable and telecom companies, but no one expressed interest in a deal or in licensing the spectrum or in its other bands. Discussions about a Globalstar/Thermo deal rekindled this year, he said. He said lack of outside interest in the spectrum wasn't due to the company asking too high a price because it never received an offer, and instead the spectrum might be overshadowed by industry focus on the 3.5 GHz band, 5G "and this, that and the other thing." He said what happens in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band "will inform" what the company does with its C-band spectrum in the 7 GHz block. The company said it's facing roughly a $50 million gap every six months for the next two years due to debt financing obligations. Monroe said getting international regulatory approvals for terrestrial use of its 2483.5-2500 MHz band spectrum, like the FCC granted in 2016 (see 1612230060), is taking longer than expected. He said it's focused on approvals in 27 countries and hopes to get at least some OKs within the next few months.