After taking sharp criticism from the US GPS industry for the interference caused by its technology to GPS signals, the US satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared has now come under fire for interference with the EU’s satellite navigation system,…
After taking sharp criticism from the US GPS industry for the interference caused by its technology to GPS signals, the US satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared has now come under fire for interference with the EU’s satellite navigation system, Galileo.
Heinz Zourek, the head of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, has reportedly expressed deep concerns about LightSquared’s plans in an official comment that has been added to a LightSquared docket with the US regulator, the FCC.
In the comment, which was published by the GPS World website, Zourek refers to analysis that he claims show that transmissions from LightSquared’s base stations may interfere with the Galileo system.
Zourek said that this constitutes a grave threat to the viability of providing a Galileo system over US territory. Zourek claimed that many studies had shown that the service would not only be to the benefit of Galileo users, but also of GPS users, as the two systems would be interoperable through a common signal design.
This would provide improved accuracy and coverage in urban areas.
