2nd UPDATE: Nokia Siemens Gets $7 Billion US Network Deal

(Adds analyst comments.) By Gustav Sandstrom Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Nokia Siemens Networks said Tuesday it won a $7 billion-contract to deploy and maintain a new U.S. mobile broadband network, cementing its presence in the North American market a day after agreeing to buy the majority of Motorola Inc.'s (MOT) network-equipment business. Newly formed telecom venture LightSquared, which is backed by New York-based private hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, said that under the eight-year contract Nokia Siemens will roll out a fourth-generation network with around 40,000 base stations that will cover 92% of the U.S. population by 2015. LightSquared, however, faces significant financial, regulatory and competitive hurdles in creating and launching its service, which it plans to sell on a wholesale basis to retailers, cable companies and other telecom service providers. The company announced up to $1.75 billion in debt and equity financing, but additional funding will be needed. "We believe that, if successful, this is only the first of many financings the company will need," said Philip Cusick, an analyst at Macquarie Securities. The deal is subject to final approval by the boards of Nokia Siemens and LightSquared. "Nokia Siemens Networks is proud to have been selected for the largest-ever outsourced deployment of a wireless network in the United States," said NSN Chief Executive Rajeev Suri. Cusick said Tuesday it might be "a mistake" to invest billions of dollars in a new wireless network in the already highly competitive U.S. market. "We do believe in the need for additional capacity over time, but believe it would be better used as part of an existing network than for another competitor," he said. LightSquared, which will be headed by Chief Executive Sanjiv Ahuja, uses a risky and expensive plan involving launching two satellites to communicate with the network of base stations on the ground. It will run a fourth-generation, or 4G, network using a technology standard called Long-Term Evolution. Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), plans to launch its own LTE network later this year. Pressure also is mounting on Harbinger Capital Partners to show more progress. The four-year-old plan is underpinned by Harbinger's controlling stake in satellite-telecom company SkyTerra Communications Inc., which estimated in a recent earnings presentation that it would need to come up with about $211 million for the third quarter to cover costs related to the development of the network. Expenses include insurance for a satellite launch and development of wireless base stations. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission set benchmark requirements for access to wireless spectrum when it approved Harbinger's acquisition of SkyTerra and its licenses in March. According to one condition, Harbinger must build out its network to provide coverage to at least 100 million people in the U.S. by the end of 2012, 145 million people by the end of 2013, and 260 million people by the end of 2015. Still, the significant contract scope and order value should make the agreement "a very good start" for Nokia Siemens in the U.S., said Pohjola Bank analyst Hann Rauhala, where the increasing popularity of smartphones and laptops is sharply boosting data traffic. The LightSquared deal adds further momentum to Nokia Siemens' push into the U.S. market after the company Monday said it had agreed to pay $1.2 billion for the majority of Motorola's network equipment business in the country. NSN, a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) and Germany's Siemens AG (SI, SIE.XE), has made no secret of its ambitions to enter the U.S. Last year, it bid for two units of bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp., only to lose the bulk of the wireless-equipment business to Sweden-based market leader Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson (ERIC) and Nortel's metro ethernet unit to U.S.-based Ciena Corp. (CIEN). -By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; 46-8-5451-3099; gustav.sandstrom@dowjones.com (Roger Cheng contributed to this report.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 20, 2010 10:11 ET (14:11 GMT)