The US-based satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared yesterday claimed that it had found a way to continue developing its 4G LTE network without interfering with crucial GPS signals.
A working group, which includes representatives from LightSquared…
The US-based satellite/terrestrial venture LightSquared yesterday claimed that it had found a way to continue developing its 4G LTE network without interfering with crucial GPS signals.
A working group, which includes representatives from LightSquared and the GPS industry, is currently producing a report for the telecoms regulator FCC on the issue of whether LightSquared’s technology interferes with GPS.
This report was originally supposed to be submitted last week. It has been delayed until 1 July.
Without submitting the report and receiving approval from the telecoms regulator, LightSquared will not be able to start offering its wholesale services.
In its statement yesterday, LightSquared said that its early tests had shown that one of its 10MHz blocks of frequencies “poses interference to many GPS receivers”.
But it said that another 10MHz block, lower in the L-Band of spectrum and further away from GPS frequencies, was largely free of any interference issues.
As a result, LightSquared said it had begun developing an alternative development plan for its national wireless service based on the lower 10MHz block of spectrum.
But its claims to have found a solution to the GPS interference issue were dismissed by Jim Kirkland, the vice president of Trimble, a company that builds advanced positioning products and a member of the GPS industry’s Coalition to Save Our GPS.
Kirkland said that LightSquared’s latest move “borders on the bizarre”.
“LightSquared’s supposed solution is nothing but a ‘Hail Mary’ move. Confining its operation to the lower MSS band still interferes with many critical GPS receivers in addition to the precision receivers that even LightSquared concedes will be affected,” Kirkland said.
He concluded: “It is time for LightSquared to move out of the MSS band.”
The lower block of spectrum in the L-band that LightSquared is seeking to use is controlled by the British MSS operator Inmarsat. LightSquared said that it had come to an agreement with Inmarsat for it to lease this band.
A LightSquared spokesman told TelecomFinance that this would be a long-term lease, not an acquisition of spectrum.
As a part of the change of plans, LightSquared will modify its FCC licence in order to reduce the maximum authorised power of its base station transmitters by 50%. It claimed that this would provide additional protection to GPS.
It does not expect the change in spectrum to affect the timing of its rollout of services.
The FCC requires that LightSquared’s terrestrial network covers at least 100 million people in the US by the end of 2012 and at least 260 million by the end of 2015.
It said that it was committed to protecting GPS signals, which it described as “indispensable” to many Americans.
LightSquared’s CEO and chairman, Sanjiv Ahuja, said that this was a solution that ensured that GPS users would not be affected by LightSquared’s launch.
“At the same time, this plan offers a clear path for LightSquared to move forward with the launch of a nationwide wireless network that will introduce world class broadband service to rural and underserved areas which still find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide,” Ahuja said.
LightSquared concluded that its new plan will enable the company to serve its customer base for “the next several years”.
It added that it would use this period to work with various bodies “to explore mitigation possibilities and operational alternatives that will allow LightSquared to continue to expand its business”.
These bodies would include the FCC, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which advises the president on telecoms policy, other relevant US government departments and commercial GPS services.
