In an attempt to revive a planned wireless network marred by interference issues, Phillip Falcone's LightSquared Inc. asked U.S. regulators for permission to share airwaves with federal-government users.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blocked LightSquared's service back in February, after GPS device makers and users, including commercial airlines and the U.S. military, reported that signals from LightSquared's service interfered with navigation gear.

LightSquared filed its request with the FCC on Friday, Sept. 28, company spokesman Michael Tucker told Bloomberg BusinessWeek in an emailed statement. The struggling company also told the FCC that it would voluntarily give up the right to some operations in airwaves near those used by the GPS.

After filing for bankruptcy back in May, LightSquared said it plans to resolve the interference concerns. On Sept. 21, the Reston, Virginia-based company told Congress that it cannot deploy its service until the FCC makes a decision on whether to revoke initial approvals, as it proposed in February. The agency has not taken final action yet. 

In a March filing at the FCC, GPS equipment makers and users said that "no feasible mitigation measures" can prevent interference from LightSquared. In its proposal on Friday, LightSquared asked the agency for permission to share frequencies used by weather balloons and weather satellites.

According to Larry Strickling, administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees airwaves use, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the dominant user of those frequencies.

U.S. officials were assessing whether commercial users could share the airwaves swath, but had not reached any conclusions, said Strickling.

"We are aware of LightSquared's interest in sharing," NTIA spokeswoman Heather Phillips told Bloomberg. "If requested by the FCC, NTIA will work with NOAA to evaluate LightSquared's request."

LightSquared has been aiming for a spectrum swap or sharing arrangement ever since the FCC proposed to kill its LTE plans, but until now it had not laid out a specific plan. The proposal on Friday would give the carrier 30MHz of frequencies on which to operate its LTE network. That is 10MHz less than it originally wanted, but is comparable to the amount of spectrum big players such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T are using for their LTE systems.

Airwaves are becoming increasingly crowded with new uses, prompting U.S. officials who manage frequency assignments to consider sharing arrangements. Back in July, a White House advisory panel highlighted that allowing others to share parts of the spectrum currently reserved for federal agencies could help meet the surging demand from wireless smartphones and other mobile devices from commercial carriers.