Why we are up today? Defense and Transportation DepSecs Tell FCC to Nix LightSquared
January 16, 2012
Ashton Carter, U.S. deputy secretary for defense, and John Porcari, deputy secretary for transportation, have written an official letter to the assistant secretary for commerce, stating that "there appear to be no practical solutions or mitigations that would permit the LightSquared broadband service." Carter and Porcari are co-chairs of the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing. This represents the strongest intra-government statement to date on the issue.
Their letter further states that "both LightSquared's original and modified plans for its proposed mobile network would cause harmul interference to many GPS receivers. Additionally, an analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration has concluded that the LightSquared proposals are not compatible with several GPS-dependent aircraft safety-of-flight systems."
"No additional testing is warranted at this time," the authors conclude.
They further propose to "draft new GPS spectrum interference standards that will help inform future proposals for non-space, commercial uses in the bands adjacent to the GPS signals."
No response has emerged from either the Federal Communications Commission or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the two bodies charged with making a determination on the issue. But the letter appears to signal a coming end to a conflict that has occupied many, and tied up many resources and consumed many millions of dollars, for the past year.
One source commented, off the record, that "Our hope is this will be the end of the matter, and the FCC will withdrawal its initial approval and inform LSQ they must seek the 500 MHz in a different portion of the spectrum."
See the full text of the PNT Excomm letter.