FCC Asking for Public Opinion on LightSquared LTE
LightSquared have faced a lot of hurdles in trying to get their 4G LTE network up and running. Financially they seem to be ready, but the technological feasibility of their plans seem to be next to nothing. LightSquared wants to host their LTE network on spectrum that causes interference problems with GPS satellites. Wherever there may be a LightSquared tower you will probably have trouble using GPS.
This, of course, is a very serious issue. Lots of industries and people use GPS for many different reasons and some would argue that having working GPS is more important than having high data speeds, especially when there are far more options for 4G data than what LightSquared is proposing. They have battled with the FCC and now the FCC wants to gather the public’s opinion.
They’re calling on you to submit your concerns and opinions by February 27th. We somehow feel that most of you would rather not risk the reliability of GPS just so that a new player in the mobile data space can sell broadband data. In either case, the links you need to submit your comment are below.
FCC ECFS Short comment link: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/begin?procName=11-109&filedFrom=X
FCC ECFS Standard (for uploading attachments – click the link at the top that says Submit a filing in 11-109): http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?z=94jz8&name=11-109
[FCC via Bloomberg, The Verge]