Could be the death of lightsquared

[+Walts Hunting]

Defense and Transportation say no solution.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/13/officials-warn-lightsquared-broadband-plan-would-disrupt-gps/

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Defense and Transportation say no solution.

 

http://www.foxnews.c...ld-disrupt-gps/

It's just a turf war. There's plenty of frequency bandwidth available or that could be made available elsewhere in the radio spectrum that they can use.

 

From: http://cqnewsroom.bl...to-protect.html

 

LightSquared Agrees to QSY to Protect GPS

A wireless broadband internet company that received a waiver from the FCC to set up operations on frequencies immediately adjacent to those used by the Global Positioning System (GPS) has agreed to start up its operations on a different band.

 

Both LightSquared and the FCC had been sharply criticized by aviators - especially private pilots who rely on GPS for precise navigation - as well as public safety officials, members of Congress, and the Federal Aviation Administration for inadequate testing to determine how much interference to GPS might result from having high-speed internet service right next door. The National Journal reported on June 20 that LightSquared had agreed to move its initial service to a different block of frequencies below the GPS band, "a solution which ensures that tens of millions of GPS users won't be affected by LightSquared's launch," according to the company's CEO.

 

(QSY is radio-speak for change frequency)

Edited January 14, 2012 by TheAlabamaRambler

[+Manville Possum]

Defense and Transportation say no solution.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/13/officials-warn-lightsquared-broadband-plan-would-disrupt-gps/

The company was doomed from the beginning. LightSquared must have not done their reasearch well enough. I'm a radio operator also, and I understand that spectrum of the issue. I also understand how much the DOT and the Shipping industry relys on GPS to move goods across the US. The DoD never put much input on the subject.

I was concerned enough to write my State represenative about the subject. What was the FCC thinking?

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Defense and Transportation say no solution.

 

http://www.foxnews.c...ld-disrupt-gps/

The company was doomed from the beginning. LightSquared must have not done their reasearch well enough. I'm a radio operator also, and I understand that spectrum of the issue. I also understand how much the DOT and the Shipping industry relys on GPS to move goods across the US. The DoD never put much input on the subject.

I was concerned enough to write my State represenative about the subject. What was the FCC thinking?

I can't fault the FCC for this. LightSquared asked for a waiver to operate high-power terrestrial-to-terrestrial in a band dedicated to low-power satellite-to-terrestrial and it was granted provided that LightSquared prove that their system did not interfere with existing band users. The underlined portion is the important part. The FCC Waiver requires proof that interference will not occur. Of course their system does interfere, LightSquare's waiver is invalid, and LightSquared has to move to a band where it will not interfere with other users.

 

But, licensing bands where the LightSquared system will not cause interference are very expensive. LightSquared cannot operate profitably in those bands. They want to stay in the much less expensive band where they are now.

 

So they blame GPS manufacturers for not building in filters which would protect the low-power GPS signals from their high-powered signals and try to bully the FCC into giving up their no-interference clause in the waiver! They state that it is their 'right' to change the function of that spectrum to suit their needs and GPS users must change to accommodate them. LightSquared created a media campaign designed to bamboozle Congress with junk science. Their argument is totally specious and the FCC knows it. LightSquared will never be able to operate their new system in that spectrum.

 

The GPS manufacturers do, as required by the FCC, filter out interference that is normally be expected to occur on those frequencies, but it is not the GPS manufacturers responsibility to filter their devices from such a strong signal as that of LightSquared which was never anticipated to operate in that band.

 

Yes, it will be the end of LightSquared because they will not be able to afford to license frequencies where they can operate without causing interference.

[+tamwood53]

I saw an article today that was posted on Feb 15th. The headline was "FCC bans LightSquared over GPS interference" In essence it stated the FCC put the whole idea on hold indefinitely, and the CEO resigned today. It looks like maybe this is truly the end of our worries!!!!

The link to the story is: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/15/technology/lightsquared_gps/index.htm?iid=EAL

[+DragonsWest]

I saw an article today that was posted on Feb 15th. The headline was "FCC bans LightSquared over GPS interference" In essence it stated the FCC put the whole idea on hold indefinitely, and the CEO resigned today. It looks like maybe this is truly the end of our worries!!!!

The link to the story is: http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/15/technology/lightsquared_gps/index.htm?iid=EAL

 

Yep. Came here with the idea of posting this, well done you. Looks like they're done, stick a fork in 'em.