Public Sucked Into LightSquared Squabble

LR Mobile News Analysis
Dan Jones, Mobile Editor

1/30/2012

LightSquared got some breathing space Friday as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a public comment period on the carrier's petition about its rights to use the spectrum licensed to it.

On Dec. 20, LightSquared petitioned the agency about the waiver it issued on Jan. 23 2011 to allow the operator to build an LTE network in L-Band spectrum. The L-Band spectrum is right next to bandwidth used by GPS receivers and some of them would "see" transmissions from the planned network, causing interference.

LightSquared said that the GPS industry had known for eight years that a terrestrial network in the L-Band spectrum was coming from LightSquared or its predecessors. Yet the industry didn't change the design of their receivers. "Commercial GPS receivers are not licensed, do not operate under any service rules, and thus are not entitled to any interference protection whatsoever," LightSquared claimed in its December petition.

The FCC has now opened up a public comment period on this. It will run until Feb. 27 with follow-ups due by March 13.

Why this matters
The FCC move appears to give LightSquared a bit more time for testing before the vultures start to circle. The company is arguing against previous government tests that say the planned network does cause interference with GPS. LightSquared claims collusion with the GPS industry "rigged" the results and says that only the FCC can decide what happens with the spectrum.

LightSquared's network partner, Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), has put its deal with the operator on hold until the interference issue is resolved. Harbinger Capital Partners LP -backed LightSquared, meanwhile, has said that it has enough money to continue operations for the next several quarters.

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— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile

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Public Sucked Into LightSquared Squabble LR Mobile News Analysis Dan Jones, Mobile Editor 1/30/2012 Comment (3) Tweet LightSquared got some breathing space Friday as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a public comment period on the carrier's petition about its rights to use the spectrum licensed to it. On Dec. 20, LightSquared petitioned the agency about the waiver it issued on Jan. 23 2011 to allow the operator to build an LTE network in L-Band spectrum. The L-Band spectrum is right next to bandwidth used by GPS receivers and some of them would "see" transmissions from the planned network, causing interference. LightSquared said that the GPS industry had known for eight years that a terrestrial network in the L-Band spectrum was coming from LightSquared or its predecessors. Yet the industry didn't change the design of their receivers. "Commercial GPS receivers are not licensed, do not operate under any service rules, and thus are not entitled to any interference protection whatsoever," LightSquared claimed in its December petition. The FCC has now opened up a public comment period on this. It will run until Feb. 27 with follow-ups due by March 13. Why this matters The FCC move appears to give LightSquared a bit more time for testing before the vultures start to circle. The company is arguing against previous government tests that say the planned network does cause interference with GPS. LightSquared claims collusion with the GPS industry "rigged" the results and says that only the FCC can decide what happens with the spectrum. LightSquared's network partner, Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S), has put its deal with the operator on hold until the interference issue is resolved. Harbinger Capital Partners LP -backed LightSquared, meanwhile, has said that it has enough money to continue operations for the next several quarters. For more LightSquared's War of Words LightSquared Calls GPS Tests 'Rigged' Government Agencies Blast LightSquared Sprint Gives LightSquared 30-Day Extension 2011 Top Ten: LightSquared in the Limelight LightSquared Files GPS-Test Data LightSquared to GPS Industry: Get Bent NDAA Bill Would Let Military Block LightSquared Sprint's $13.5B Jump to LTE With LightSquared LightSquared Plans LTE Launch Next Year LightSquared 'Confident' of FCC Approval in 2012 — Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile Like what we have to say? Click here to sign up to our daily newsletter (3) \| Comment \| Print \| RSS Comments Newest First \| Oldest First \| Threaded View ADD A COMMENT [close this box] joanengebretson 12/5/2012 \| 5:44:04 PM re: Public Sucked Into LightSquared Squabble I'd like to know if the tests that LightSquared has been so critical of were conducted with or without the filter LightSquared has been touting and if indeed GPS vendors have manufactured products that don't conform to regulations as LightSquared claims. If the GPS products don't conform to regulations and could pass tests with filters that would enable them to conform to regulations, I think it will be difficult to show that the FCC did anything wrong in allowing LightSquared to go as far as it did--whether or not LightSquared ever gets the go-ahead. Reply \| Post Message \| Messages List \| Start a Board krishanguru143 12/5/2012 \| 5:44:03 PM re: Public Sucked Into LightSquared Squabble It really doesn't matter.  The root of the problem, if the spectrum was used as it was originally sold for, there wouldn't be an issue.  If you go and buy a Smart Car (which seats two people) and then three months later, your wife is pregnant.  You also decide that you would like to get a 40-foot boat.  You then determine that the car the salesman sold you is no longer adequate.  You go and demand that the dealership needs to bend over backwards for you because what they sold you is not what you currently need.  This is no different than what LightSquared is doing.  They bought spectrum that was for satellite to ground communication.  Now they want to use the spectrum for terrestrial communication and given the much higher output that is near the GPS receivers, it is going to cause issues.  That interference is expected, it has been known about many decades.  Case in point, the FCC won’t let two radio stations uses adjoining bands in the same city.  If you had radio station A in the north part of the town, station B in the south part and .20 MHz between them.  If you were in the north part of town and listening to the station in the south part, you would get bleed over from the northern station.  This is why the FCC won’t let two stations being in nearby bands.  The same is true in television.  The same is true in every band.   The fact is, what LightSquared bought won’t do what they want, they bought the wrong spectrum.  The FCC just needs to pull the plug on them and let LightSquared work it out.  They bought spectrum no one else wanted for cheap and now want to use it as high dollar spectrum.  If the FCC allows this, expect others to pull the same stunt. Reply \| Post Message \| Messages List \| Start a Board joset01 12/5/2012 \| 5:43:53 PM re: Public Sucked Into LightSquared Squabble  "If the FCC allows this, expect others to pull the same stunt."   coughDISHcough Reply \| Post Message \| Messages List \| Start a Board		Educational Resources sponsor supplied content SmartPCC: A Real-Time, Closed-Loop Profit Engine for MBB Educational Resources Archive Featured Video Upcoming Live Events Software-Driven Operations November 5, 2019, London, England Global Telecoms Awards November 7, 2019, London, UK Cable Next-Gen Europe November 14, 2019, Maritim Hotel, Berlin 2020 Vision Executive Summit December 3-5, 2019, Vienna, Austria Cable Next-Gen Business Strategies December 3, 2019, New York, New York Cable Next Gen-Technologies & Strategies March 16-18, 2020, Embassy Suites, Denver, Colorado Big 5G Event May 18-20, 2020, Irving Convention Center, Dallas, TX All Upcoming Live Events Upcoming Webinars October 22, 2019 How to Cut Your BSS Costs by up to 80% With Public Cloud October 22, 2019 Programmable FTTx: Readiness for a Virtualized Access Network October 23, 2019 Microsoft Azure ONAP-based NFV and SD-WAN solution October 23, 2019 What’s happening at the Edge October 29, 2019 IoT, 5G, Security, and RoI October 30, 2019 The Road to a Secure 5G: How Secure Are We Today? 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