GPS Taking LightSquared Fight to Capitol Hill
The GPS industry is taking its concerns of interference due to LightSquared’s planned wireless network to Capitol Hill. Trimble Navigation General Counsel Jim Kirkland will testify at House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee Friday with a focus on the LightSquared issue, he said in an interview. Kirkland, along with Garmin, is also helping organize a new ad hoc group called the Coalition to Save Our GPS. Several companies, groups and federal agencies have voiced worries that LightSquared’s proposed service would harm GPS services. LightSquared is in the process of addressing these concerns along with the U.S. GPS Industry Council in a working group, as required by the FCC.
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The FCC declined to comment on the specific efforts by GPS interests, but an FCC spokesman pointed to comments the agency has made on the issue before: “As part of the waiver conditions, until harmful interference concerns involving GPS receivers operating in adjacent spectrum bands have been adequately addressed, LightSquared will not be permitted to move forward under the waiver. … The FCC waiver approval granted to LightSquared was based on the merits of its proposal, following a process that included ample opportunity for comment. LightSquared’s planned commercial service will result in billions of dollars in investment, offer consumers a new wireless competitor, and create tens of thousands of jobs across America. It deserves every opportunity to succeed,” he said. LightSquared didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The testimony before the subcommittee will be aimed at raising lawmakers’ awareness of the interference worries, said Kirkland. The testimony is pertinent to the subcommittee as an overseer of NTIA funding and isn’t part of a formal Congressional look into the interference issue, he said.
The FCC International Bureau gave LightSquared a waiver allowing the company to avoid mobile satellite service requirements that prohibit terrestrial-only uses of the spectrum (CD Jan 27 p1). Several groups, including federal agencies, have said the new LightSquared service, which will be sold wholesale, could interfere with GPS services using neighboring spectrum. The working group is currently looking at the issue and will give the FCC a first progress report Tuesday.
"We have been concerned with process to date,” said Kirkland. It is “important that NTIA continue to protect the interest of federal spectrum users,” and Kirkland will present testimony on what “the issue is and what the concerns are from a interference standpoint,” he said. Specifically, Kirkland hopes the FCC will allow for a fuller record before LightSquared begins service, he said. Once the working group studies are finished, interested parties should have a full comment cycle to weigh in, he said.
Trimble and Garmin will also use the new coalition to raise interest in the possible problems related to LightSquared. The coalition’s purpose is “to bring into the dialog a full range of trade associations and companies that rely on GPS for services and functions,” he said. The GPS group hopes to gain “very broad participation from aviation, construction and agricultural” users and will also make sure that “relevant congressional committees” are aware of the risks involved with LightSquared’s service, said Kirkland.