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.

FMI: www.fcc.gov