Broadband Company’s Demise Puts Taxpayers on Hook for $74 Million Loan

The failure of the broadband company Open Range clarifies the need for new technologies to be carefully vetted — especially when they are unconventional, like in the case of Open Range. The FCC’s handling of the matter has come under scrutiny by lawmakers partly because the agency promoted a similar venture called LightSquared about the same time it was turning its back on Open Range.