LightSquared’s claim that the advisory committee opposed to its network deployment violated conflict of interest laws has been dismissed by NASA’s inspector general Paul Martin.
The committee, which was supervised by NASA, was charged with advising…
LightSquared’s claim that the advisory committee opposed to its network deployment violated conflict of interest laws has been dismissed by NASA’s inspector general Paul Martin.
The committee, which was supervised by NASA, was charged with advising the government on whether LightSquared’s spectrum interfered with GPS technology. Martin was asked by the satellite/terrestrial venture in January to investigate the findings and members of the committee because of its apparent ties with the GPS industry.
Of particular concern to LightSquared was the activity of the committee’s vice chairman, Bradford Parkinson, who helped design the original GPS for the military in the 1970s and is a board member of Trimble, a key manufacturer of the technology. In August 2011, Parkinson co-signed a letter to the FCC requesting that the agency deny LightSquared’s request for commercial roll out on the grounds that it would disrupt GPS technology
NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) did find that “by co-signing the letter to the FCC Parkinson improperly participated in a particular matter that had a direct and predictable effect on his financial interest”.
However, the OIG ruled that Parkinson’s actions were not motivated by financial interests, but instead a desire to protect a national resource he helped to create.
“In particular we noted that Parkinson had disclosed his ties to Trimble on his annual financial disclosure statements and made no attempt to hide his board membership or stock ownership,” stated the OIG.
“We also found that LightSquared representatives attended the June 2011 advisory board meeting and were aware of Parkinson’s potential conflict at that time, but failed to raise the issue. We did not find that any other board member took action that violated federal conflict of interest laws.”
LightSquared was unable to comment before the press deadline.
Having been unable to deploy its 4G network, the venture is currently in voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as the group seeks to keep creditors at bay while it tackles its regulatory obstacles.
