LightSquared Now Asking FCC Impose Tighter GPS Standards To Get 4G LTE Network Off The Ground
LightSquared has been fighting what seems like an uphill battle from start to get their budding 4G LTE network off the ground. Their biggest hurdle? Getting the darn thing to stop interfering with government protected GPS bands. While, in the beginning, LightSquared was trying to convince the FCC that there was no interference (this was one of the terms required to get their network to gain approval), now the company is back peddling, issuing a statement calling out the FCC to change the way GPS receivers operate because, you know — although there’s no interference, if there was, it’s because of poorly designed GPS equipment. LightSquared said in a statement,
“If sensible standards were in place, the GPS industry would not be facing the current interference problems and consumers would benefit from a more efficient use of spectrum. Furthermore, the way would be clear for LightSquared to launch its new nationwide wireless broadband network funded by a $14 billion private investment in the nation’s broadband infrastructure.”
Now, I agree, something should be done about GPS receivers operating sloppily on L-band spectrum, but something tells me that would take a little more time than LightSquared is hoping to rush. When it comes to GPS manufacturers, LightSquared is asking the FCC to formally establish that they have no right to “interference protection” from LightSquared’s network. Something tells me this isn’t going to go over so well.
LightSquared is grasping at straws here, trying every trick in the book to get their LTE network up and running and remember — if they can’t get everything squared away by March, they could lose valuable funding from Sprint, one of their primary investors.
[GigaOM | Via Electronista]