from Thehill.com, which offers blogs from elected officials:
LightSquared will make for a better connection
By Maine State Rep. Diane Russell, (D-Portland) - 03/05/12 03:35 PM ET
As a progressive state legislator, it's not every day that I find myself championing a conservative infrastructure investment model like the LightSquared project. However, my hometown was the last in the nation to use the crank phone (no...not the rotary dial). I may still get carded at the store, but I remember using the system. More than most, I recognize the economic consequences of being on the wrong side of the digital tracks.
While the federal government has been wasting trillions of dollars building nations abroad, our own infrastructure here at home has taken a hit, not the least of which is our broadband investment. It's great that urban parts of the country have broadband Internet and reliable cell phone service; the rest of us do not and that hurts the entire American economy. Regardless of whether the investment is public or private, it needs to be made. LightSquared is investing billions in private money to deploy the most robust, reliable 4G mobile broadband system in the country.