Meanwhile, the FCC has granted approved a request by LightSquared to extend its deadline to provide a report on the interference its technology causes with GPS and other signals.
The report is being compiled by a working group that includes…
Meanwhile, the FCC has granted approved a request by LightSquared to extend its deadline to provide a report on the interference its technology causes with GPS and other signals.
The report is being compiled by a working group that includes representatives from LightSquared and the GPS industry.
LightSquared was due to file the report with the FCC yesterday, but instead sent a letter to the regulator asking for a two-week extension. This has been granted and the new deadline is 1 July.
The venture requested the extension so it could carry out additional tests and study other frequency plans able to support its network roll-out.
It added that the analysis of test results has been time-consuming and that it wants to consider the results from all GPS receiver categories.
LightSquared is not able to start commercial services until it gets approval from the FCC’s International Bureau, which itself depends on the working group successfully completing its investigation into GPS interference.
The company said the extension would delay this and that it “is willing to take that chance”.
Notwithstanding this extension, details of the tests have begun to emerge.
One of the participants was the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), a federation of public safety groups that aims to improve communications and interoperability.
An overview of its conclusions, filed with the FCC yesterday, concluded that analysis and testing shows that terrestrial use of L-band allocations near spectrum allocations for satellite navigation (including GPS), “does diminish location accuracy and/or preclude, under certain circumstances, GPS service entirely”.
The NPSTC also clarified the importance of GPS for public safety functions, including the 911 emergency phone system, providing support to services and “a myriad of other mission critical functions”.
