Thu, Aug 11, 2011
Chairman Says Broadband Company Will Not Be Allowed To
Interfere With GPS
The chairman of the FCC on Tuesday told reporters that the
agency would not allow LightSquared to interfere with millions of
GPS receivers on which pilots, mariners, and the public rely for
navigation. The remarks came in a news conference following the
commissions' monthly meeting.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (pictured) said LightSquared's
launch of a nationwide wireless broadband network would be "on
hold" until interference issues are resolved. Broadcast and
Cable magazine reports that the commission's goal is to both
protect GPS and promote the wireless service that he said would
create jobs and lead to private investment in the billions of
dollars.
While commissioners agreed that the service proposed by
LightSquared would be valuable, they admitted that the interference
issue outweighs other concerns. Staffers indicated that they were
very interested in protecting aircraft navigation to places such as
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport ... as planes on approach
to DCA could be seen from the FCC's conference room window.
The FCC representatives said that there continues to be
interference problems, which become more pronounced the closer the
LightSquared transmissions are to the GPS band. One FCC official
said he did not see a scenario where LightSquared would be allowed
to use those frequencies "anytime soon," and that the commission
was focusing on testing in the lower portion of LightSquared's
proposed bandwidth. The FCC said it was not able to commit to any
particular timeframe for the matter to be resolved. LightSquared
CEO Phillip Falcone said the company plans to continue to work with
both the FCC and the GPS industry in an attempt to resolve the
matter.
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