> FCC: We Won't Let LightSquared Hurt GPS
> BY: GRANT GROSS
> IDG News Service
> 09 August 2011
>
> The U.S. Federal Communications Commission won't allow LightSquared's proposed mobile broadband
> service to interfere with GPS signals, even though the potential interference would be
> caused by GPS receivers picking up signals outside of their spectrum, a group of FCC
> officials said Tuesday.
>
> The FCC, which is now trying to decide whether to allow LightSquared's mobile broadband
> proposal to move forward, recognizes the importance of GPS (Global Positioning System) as
> a consumer service and as a service used by the military, airplanes and other groups, the
> FCC officials said.
>
> The FCC won't allow interference with GPS, one official there said.
>
> But FCC officials who briefed reporters on background Tuesday also said that a terrestrial
> broadband service has long been in the works for the spectrum bordering GPS spectrum.
> LightSquared and its predecessor SkyTerra have been planning a mobile service in the
> contested spectrum since 2003, the FCC officials said.
>
> The current interference fight is over GPS receivers that would pick up interference from
> cell towers operating outside of GPS spectrum, FCC officials said. Although those receivers
> are operating in spectrum licensed by LightSquared, GPS is too important to allow interference,
> the officials said.
>
> During recent interference tests, it was clear that GPS receivers were picking up interference
> well beyond GPS spectrum, one FCC official said.
>
> LightSquared has asked the FCC for approval to operate a hybrid satellite and land-based
> LTE (Long-Term Evolution) mobile network. The company, which plans to sell its network as
> a wholesale service, is waiting for approval while the agency examines interference
> complaints from GPS groups.
>
> The Coalition to Save Our GPS, a group of vendors and users, has objected to the LTE portion
> of LightSquared's plan.
>
> LightSquared had hoped to begin offering dual-mode mobile handsets this year, but FCC officials
> said Tuesday they had no timetable for finishing their review of the interference questions.
> The FCC gave LightSquared conditional approval to move forward in January, as long as its
> service did not interfere with GPS.
>
> The mobile startup has scrapped one spectrum proposal for the LTE portion of its plan because
> of the objections. LightSquared planned to offer LTE service using spectrum between 1525
> and 1559 MHz, with its satellite service operating in part of the 1600 MHz band.
>
> GPS uses spectrum from 1559 to 1610 MHz. Under the original LightSquared proposal, it would
> have used spectrum up to 1555.2 MHz for LTE, but testing by U.S. agencies showed significant
> interference problems.
>
> The current LightSquared proposal, released in June, would use only spectrum from 1526 to
> 1536 MHZ for the LTE service, leaving a 23-MHz buffer zone between its mobile broadband
> spectrum and GPS spectrum. A typical guard band between spectrum users is about 2 MHz.
> The GPS coalition blasted the new proposal in a July filing. "The utter failure of
> LightSquared's initial deployment plans to pass interference tests raises fundamental
> questions about the representations LightSquared made to the FCC," the coalition said.
> "The current strong indication is that whatever LightSquared told the FCC prior to
> January 2011 was highly inaccurate, to a degree that verges on negligence."
>
> In the longer term, the FCC or Congress will have to decide whether a 23-MHz guard band is
> good spectrum policy, FCC officials said. The LightSquared spectrum is identified as new
> spectrum for mobile broadband in the FCC's national broadband plan released in early 2010.
> The FCC doesn't want to lose the LightSquared spectrum for mobile broadband, and it doesn't
> want to encourage 23-MHz guard bands as demand for mobile broadband spectrum skyrockets,
> officials said.
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