LightSquared Misleading in GPS Interference Claims, Say GPS Interests

"LightSquared’s repeated attempts to minimize and skew the test results of its lower 10 MHz proposal fail to take into account the serious nature and broad scope of the problems its interference with GPS will cause,” said the Coalition to Save Our GPS (http://xrl.us/bk9s88), a group trying to prevent GPS interference due to LightSquared’s service. LightSquared has said that its operations in the lower L-band would solve the interference for 99 percent of GPS receivers, but that number “is completely unfounded,” said the coalition. LightSquared has been unwilling to compromise and its proposal is not really a compromise due to the substantial impact to GPS operations, it said.

Deere was also unconvinced by the LightSquared proposal, which Deere said was “launched amid disturbing half-truths and unsupportable claims” (http://xrl.us/bk9teo). None of LightSquared’s proposed mitigation efforts would prevent interference to precision GPS receivers used for aviation, construction, surveying, mapping and transportation, said Deere. “On that basis alone, it should be clear that LightSquared has not satisfied the condition in its waiver,” it said. LightSquared is allowed to provide terrestrial-only service under a conditional waiver from the International Bureau that requires the company to address interference concerns sufficiently.

The U.S. GPS Industry Council is open to further studies on how to maximize efficient use of mobile satellite service bands for terrestrial service “as long as there is something new to study,” it said (http://xrl.us/bk9tay). The USGIC co-chaired the working group along with LightSquared but has reached far different conclusions over the results. “To date, LightSquared has put nothing new on the table that would support further studies of the lower 10 MHz proposal,” it said. The FCC should find LightSquared’s proposal “insufficient,” and unless something new comes from LightSquared, “the Commission has no choice but to rescind the conditional waiver and forbid any 4G LTE operation in the 1525-1559 MHz and 1626.5-1660.5 MHz bands,” said the USGIC.

The GPS industry’s strong-arming over LightSquared’s use of L-band spectrum has left the FCC with little choice but to “mandate” LightSquared’s proposed wireless plans, LightSquared said in its reply comments (http://xrl.us/bk9rz6). LightSquared has consistently made “major concessions” during the process while the GPS industry “has offered nothing,” it said. “The industry’s pledges of cooperation months ago have since been replaced with choruses of ‘no’,” said LightSquared. The GPS community should have been preparing for services such as LightSquared for many years, given the “wealth of evidence” that shows that the rules for ancillary terrestrial component have long permitted the deployment of tens of thousands of base stations, said LightSquared.

The Rural Cellular Association endorsed LightSquared’s revised proposal to make use initially of only 10 MHz of the band (http://xrl.us/bk9syw). “LightSquared has committed to make substantial investments and materially curtail its deployment plan and timetable to mitigate interference while cooperating with the GPS interests to find mutually workable solutions,” RCA said. “Cooperation will benefit GPS interests, LightSquared, and consumers and will help facilitate the deployment of broadband service in rural America.” RCA also said given “the many well documented and substantial obstacles rural and regional carriers face in the mobile broadband market,” the FCC should move quickly to approve LightSquared’s revised plan.

The FCC has crafted a “thoughtful and transparent process” for addressing interference concerns, Sprint Nextel said in reply comments (http://xrl.us/bk9sxe). But Sprint stressed the importance of getting more spectrum online for wireless broadband. “Whether a dominant wireless company idles vast swaths of spectrum to foreclose competition, or the Commission walls off valuable spectrum resources by regulatory fiat, the result is the same: increasing pressure on prices, curtailed deployment, and reduced innovation.” Sprint argued that Verizon, AT&T and CTIA collectively have “fought virtually every attempt to increase the utility of the MSS spectrum to serve as a competitive platform for wireless services.” The GPS industry doesn’t want to reach a solution but just to keep LightSquared from ever launching, the Computer & Communications Industry Association said. “In contrast to the GPS community, LightSquared seeks to work with the Commission, NTIA, and industry stakeholders to find a long-term solution to interference problems,” CCIA said (http://xrl.us/bk9s26).

The FCC should tread lightly in moving forward so to facilitate the negotiations between technically expert parties, said Inmarsat (http://xrl.us/bk9s7k). “Inflexible and restrictive technical requirements at this juncture could preclude potential solutions developed by the parties that could enable a new services to operate effectively, without unduly impairing the capabilities of incumbent users,” Inmarsat said. The FCC should make clear that terrestrial operations in the lower part of the L-band, “if implemented appropriately, is not inconsistent with preserving a robust GPS,” said Inmarsat.