Disastrous GPS Jamming

 

Data Shows Disastrous GPS Jamming

Representatives of the GPS industry presented to members of the Federal Communications Commission clear, strong laboratory evidence of interference with the GPS signal by a proposed new broadcaster on January 19 of this year. The teleconference and subsequent written results of the testing apparently did not dissuade FCC International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre from authorizing Lightsquared to proceed with ancillary terrestrial component operations, installing up to 40,000 high-power transmitters close to the GPS frequency, across the United States. More at:

http://tinyurl.com/4u8zfn6

See also

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Will LightSquared suffer from national defense legislation?

LightSquared may be breathing a bit easier after getting a 30-day extension from Sprint on the deadline to meet the conditions of its LTE partnership with the mobile carrier giant, but eWeek reports that the controversial defense bill signed into law by President Obama just last week may further stack the deck against LightSquared.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, signed by President Obama on New Year's Eve, is drawing much more attention for its support of indefinite detainment of terror suspects, but it also includes language that applies to the LightSquared situation.

As eWeek explains, a portion of the Space Activities section of the bill indicates that the Federal Communications Commission can't allow commercial terrestrial operations that interfere with the military use of GPS, unless the FCC can prove to Congress that any concerns have been resolved. If interference is found, as it has been in initial tests involving LightSquared's spectrum-though these tests didn't involve military-related satellite receivers--the Secretary of Defense must get involved to assess the interference and report back to Congress on how it will eliminated.

At a time when the industry appears increasingly worried about its limited spectrum holdings, it's starting to seem like LightSquared's L-band spectrum doesn't have all that much value--or at least may not be worth the additional trouble. Maybe that's what Sprint is thinking, too.

Suddenly, 30 days doesn't seem all that long of an extension, given what LightSquared needs to overcome, and not just at the FCC. It seems unlikely that Sprint was aware of the NDAA language before it let LightSquared have more time, not that waiting another 30 days really affects its LTE plans.

For more:
- check out the eWeek story
http://links.mkt1985.com/ctt?kn=97&ms=Mzg1NjE5NwS2&r=MTg5NDA...

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Awesome.

Awesome.

Military Interference

I note that the prohibition is against interfering with military equipment. That still means that should the military somehow become satisfied, the rest of us are still SOL.

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.

I think would bring a class action from all GPS manufacturers, John Deere, and many GPS users to boot.

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Not us

Juggernaut wrote:

I think would bring a class action from all GPS manufacturers, John Deere, and many GPS users to boot.

And the settlement for us would be: A $10 off coupon towards the purchase of an approved device?

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Uh, think again...

John Deere, and farmers (a huge political base) would be more than enough to kick start this. One of those large machines costs mega bucks.

Imagine a retrofit cost, plus crops etc, and you have a debacle the will stir some major crap.

Now, add Garmin, Magellan, TomTom and others. Lastly, the end users (us).

The result would bankrupt this POS company by delaying the launch for years.

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actually

Juggernaut wrote:

The result would bankrupt this POS company by delaying the launch for years.

Word on the street is they already are bankrupt. Falcone spent millions pursuing this scheme and it has definitely not done what he hoped. My feelings have been this was more a ploy wrapped in "feel good" words to exchange his L Band spectrum for something more valuable.

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Good!

I don't think many will have any love lost for them.

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Thinking again

If the FCC approves this, LSQ might launch their network and let the lawsuits begin. Assuming the military & commercial interests would have a solution, we users will not be "harmed." We would be stuck with an obsolete piece of equipment. Think analog TV sets.

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.

That IS the point. There is no solution. However, even if the military had a fix, the others would still sue.

That technology, and R&D is just as valuable as LS's, and was pre-existing.

This would be a protracted battle in court.

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

in case anyone is interested

You can follow a lot on the war of words, claims and counter-claims here.
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment_search/input?z=oe32h

The proceeding number is 11-109. You can also subscribe to "the daily dump" as we call the FCC news.

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eBay Settlement

spokybob wrote:
Juggernaut wrote:

I think would bring a class action from all GPS manufacturers, John Deere, and many GPS users to boot.

And the settlement for us would be: A $10 off coupon towards the purchase of an approved device?

Or perhaps the settlement check I got recently from a class action suit against eBay Motors. It was for a whopping ONE CENT! They spent more the send the check and process it than it was worth.

Normally I might have just thrown it in the trash but it really angered me that they had such arrogance to treat us so shabbily. I had some other checks so I put deposited it along with the others. The lawyers probably walked away with millions and I got a penny.

With regards to the FCC filings, it looks like the same BS coming from "interested parties" as was coming from "interested parties" in the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. I love the one from "Swatara Township" in Pennsylvania. It reads almost exactly like the letters in support of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. I guess LightSquared has been spreading money and sample letters around.

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LightSquared is likely to run out of money by the second quarter

Telecom analyst Tim Farrar wrote on his blog that “even more damaging information is likely to emerge shortly” for LightSquared, indicating that NTIA’s planned testing of high-precision GPS devices has been put on hold. He lists other recent bad news for the company, including that it is “running out of cash“, that the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has “stack[ed the] deck against LightSquared” and that Sprint has put its investment in the partnership with LightSquared “on hold”.

http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2012/01/05/lightsquared-fading...

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politics

never underestimate politics, and greased palms

Relationship Lobbying

Box Car wrote:

noted comments made at the Federal Communications Bar Association's annual FCC Chairman's dinner, where Chairman Genachowski joked about LightSquared: "LightSquared has two tables," he said. "A quick note from the Hilton staff - those of you sitting at the upper table will need to vacate the table, and those of you at the lower table are still too loud."

That's too funny - "Yeah, we're LightSquared and we're screwing with everyone's GPS, but gee, we are at your FCC dinners so you can get to know us and become friends. Don't you want to change the rules for us now? After all, we're now friends!!!"

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ITU

I have not heard anything of late on LightSquared's petition to the ITU to get the L band reclassified on a worldwide basis. That is also problematic since if they can get the ITU to go along, the FCC could be ensnared by treaty obligations. Of course with the ITU, all other countries running navigation systems such as Russia and the EU are also in danger of interference but as has been noted before, never underestimate the power of greased palms.

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LightSquared huddles with FCC

From The Hill:

LightSquared huddles with FCC amid reports of cash problems
By Brendan Sasso - 01/11/12 11:01 AM ET

LightSquared officials met with the FCC last week to discuss a path forward for the company’s long-delayed wireless network amid reports that the company is running dangerously low on cash.

Philip Falcone, the billionaire hedge fund manager who has invested heavily in LightSquared, was among the group that met with Federal Communications Commission staffers last week, according to a disclosure form posted on the agency's website.

Falcone, LightSquared Vice President Jeff Carlisle and consultant Ashley Durmer met with FCC Chief of Staff Ed Lazarus, FCC legal adviser Amy Levine and Paul de Sa, chief of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

The LightSquared representatives urged the FCC to "continue to work toward a resolution that would enable the commencement of commercial service over the LightSquared network," according to the disclosure form. They emphasized the "significant investment" they have already made in meeting the FCC's requirements and that other companies have already signed agreements to use LightSquared's network.

LightSquared has invested billions of dollars in plans to launch a nationwide wireless broadband service, but the company has become embroiled in controversy after tests last year showed its network could interfere with GPS devices. FCC officials have said they will not give the company final approval to launch its network until it can demonstrate it has fixed the interference problems.

The company is beginning to run low on cash, according to numerous media reports. LightSquared must receive regulatory approval for its network by the end of the month or risk losing a $9 billion contract with Sprint.

During the meeting, the LightSquared representatives said recent technical modifications have reduced the interference problem and that the company is prepared to launch its network at reduced power levels. They also discussed "alternative technical solutions" to allow them to move forward, according to the disclosure form.

LightSquared says the interference problem is a result of improperly designed GPS devices receiving signals from outside their designated frequency bands. The GPS industry argues that LightSquared is using powerful cell towers on frequencies that should only be used by satellites.

Some Republican lawmakers have questioned why the FCC allowed LightSquared to get as far as it has in the regulatory process and have suggested the company has benefited from political connections.

In September, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) accused President Obama of "crony capitalism" for allegedly giving favor to his political supporters, pointing to Falcone.

Falcone, who has donated thousands of dollars to both Democrats and Republicans in recent years, says he is a registered Republican and has denied any attempts to influence the process through political connections.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has pledged to block Obama's two nominees to fill FCC vacancies until the agency releases internal documents related to its review of the wireless company.

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LightSquared's finances

TMF Associates MSS blog

Developments in the mobile satellite industry
01.11.12
Don’t stop believin’…???

Posted in Financials, Inmarsat, LightSquared, Operators, Regulatory, Spectrum at 3:05 pm by timfarrar

Yesterday, LightSquared held an investor call to provide an update on regulatory progress, including Mr. Falcone’s meeting last week at the FCC (which failed to gain the attention of the FCC Chairman, unlike Mr. Ergen’s visit to the FCC the same day). LightSquared’s investors clearly want to know whether there is any prospect of approval being granted, and a Debtwire story on Jan 3 reported that some of the previous investors have lost confidence in a successful resolution of the issue:

Farallon Capital Management dumped its stake in LightSquared’s USD 1.6bn first lien loan last month as the telecom company and sponsor Harbinger Capital battle regulatory controversies, according to two buyside sources and a source familiar with the matter. Displaying a greater taste for potential distress, Icahn Enterprises has emerged as a recent buyer of LightSquared’s bank debt in the low 40s, the two buyside sources said.

The exit of Farallon signals the loss of one of LightSquared’s former anchor investors. The California hedge fund was one of the biggest par holders in LightSquared’s capital structure, owning more than USD 150m of the Libor+ 1,200 bps term loans the company raised to finance the build out of the its 4G long term evolution (LTE) network, the sources said.

The loans were recently quoted at 43-45 from 90-92 at the beginning of August, according to Markit.

However, I understand that the new investors, including Icahn, haven’t stopped believing that they will be able to overcome the opposition of the GPS community, and ultimately gain approval on the back of (what was described to me as) their greater “sophistication” and financial resources compared to Harbinger. Indeed, part of Mr. Falcone’s objective in his FCC meeting may have been to suggest that the FCC would have to deal with less cooperative owners of the assets in the future, if they delay approval and allow LightSquared to fall into bankruptcy.

Its suprising that anyone could believe that they will succeed where Harbinger has failed, especially as the NTIA now appears determined to spin out the testing process for as long as possible (and almost certainly to beyond the November 2012 election). In addition, it would be easy for the FCC to initiate a (multi-year) rulemaking proceeding on receiver standards for GPS receivers, if they want to kick this issue even further into the long grass. Nevertheless, the implications are that LightSquared’s debt investors are likely to allow the company to keep pushing for approval, rather than trying to force it into bankruptcy more quickly in order to liquidate the assets before all the cash is gone. That would suggest a bankruptcy filing later in the second quarter rather than in the next couple of months.

Ultimately, I think this will look a lot like the Iridium bankruptcy in 1999, where investors thought there was something worth billions of dollars that could be rescued with a bit more money and better execution, and spent nine fruitless months before they finally conceded that $5B of investment needed to be completely written off. The fundamental reason why I think their efforts will fail is that the continuing lease payments to Inmarsat ($115M per year) very likely outweigh the value of 20MHz of L-band spectrum, which at best might be usable terrestrially in 5-10 years time (if approval was even granted).

At this point there is no way that Inmarsat is going to compromise on these lease payments, because the whole LightSquared affair (which Inmarsat enabled through the 2007 Cooperation Agreement) has deeply upset the DoD, which accounts for ~20% of Inmarsat’s total revenues (and probably an even higher proportion of the Global Xpress business plan). Indeed, some within Inmarsat might feel they would give back the money paid to date, if only the whole LightSquared mess could be made to go away. Inmarsat already appears to be telling the DoD that it was not their fault, because they were ordered by the FCC (under a Republican administration) to enter into the Cooperation Agreement, against their better judgment. In that context, Inmarsat’s protests in January 2005 that approval of the ATC plans proposed by LightSquared (then MSV) would lead to substantial degradation of MSS services due to overload interference, now appear very prophetic.

As a result, I expect the end game (which is now unlikely to be reached before 2013) to involve a combination of trying to recover the money paid to Sprint and not spent on deployment, selling the ground spare to Boeing, and agreeing to sell Inmarsat the in-orbit satellite and spectrum assets in exchange for a return of a sizeable proportion of the ~$500M paid to date. Whether that will be sufficient to provide downside protection to buyers of LightSquared’s first lien debt (totalling ~$1.6B) “in the low 40s” remains to be seen.

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Interesting Reading

There is some interesting reading over at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment_search/rss?recieved.mi... which has all the letters sent to the FCC in opposition and support of LightSquared. I find the support letters particularly amusing as they appear to be copied from some standard boilerplate. It is surprising to see the number of politicians and even a Fire Chief (who I wonder will get around without a GPS after it is useless) who support LightSquared. They remind me of the letters supporting AT&T's bid for T-Mobile. All say basically the same thing with the same wording.

There are still some pundits betting that LightSquared is continuing to push forward because they really want to trade their freely acquired L-Band spectrum for more valuable terrestrial spectrum and they do not want to pay for it thus cheating the taxpayers from auction revenue. Without a terrestrial waver, the L-Band spectrum is relatively worthless on the open market. LS's gamble has been to either make it valuable by getting it reclassified or getting valuable spectrum for free.

This company has to die already or get some more cash and buy licenses just like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile did.

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LightSquared's LTE hopes dashed by federal agency report

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except

Last Mrk wrote:

National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee report.

Sprint didn't reneg on the deal with LSQ. The deal was extended till the end of January providing LSQ had FCC approval to construct and operate. The deal was to use Sprint towers and facilities.

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Not about the 30 day part

Box Car wrote:
Last Mrk wrote:

National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee report.

Sprint didn't reneg on the deal with LSQ. The deal was extended till the end of January providing LSQ had FCC approval to construct and operate. The deal was to use Sprint towers and facilities.

The 30 day part is not what this is about. If you read deeper then you will see:

"It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings and, in this case, she's still taking a very deep breath. After granting potential partner LightSquared a 30-day extension to gain final FCC approval for its LTE spectrum, Sprint is now pulling back from the 15-year resource sharing agreement that would see it building out and utilizing LS' plagued network. While the Hesse-led company has yet to issue any specifics of this course change, mention was made of "realigning [the] deployment timeline" -- so, the deal's not totally off the table, but it's definitely hovering in regulation limbo."

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but the 15 year

The 15 year agreement was contingent on LSQ getting FCC approval by 31 December 2011. That didn't happen so Sprint gave LSQ an additional 30 days to obtain approval.

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Sprint

Box Car wrote:

The 15 year agreement was contingent on LSQ getting FCC approval by 31 December 2011. That didn't happen so Sprint gave LSQ an additional 30 days to obtain approval.

Now perhaps Sprint can focus on their backhaul and improving their existing infrastructure. Many of their towers still have pathetic 3G performance. On the few around my area that they have upgraded, the improvement is fantastic but a majority of the sites I pass by I am lucky to get 100kbit/sec. Even the tower closest to my home has poor performance and is not listed as being scheduled for upgrade in the next six months.

They are slowly beginning the migration to LTE and that will help as all the LTE base stations will need superior backhaul which the 3G bases can use. However, that will be several years in coming.

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and the hits keep coming

against LightSquared that is:

Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips
January 16, 2012

Several outlets continued to report that federal government agencies dependent on GPS unanimously concluded that LightSquared’s planned network cannot operate without causing harmful interference to GPS and that no further testing is necessary. Some of the reporting is highlighted below.

• TR Daily reported that the government dealt LightSquared a “major blow.”
• The Associated Press noted that government tests determined that even LightSquared’s modified proposals would cause interference to GPS.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that a Commerce Department spokeswoman said the advisory group's recommendation will "help inform" the agency's final recommendation, but it is still conducting its analysis.
• Gigaom noted: “A federal agency may have just sounded the death knell for LightSquared’s plans…”
• National Journal noted that the finding “prompted a furious response” from LightSquared and praise from The Coalition to Save Our GPS.
• Bloomberg reported that LightSquared called for further testing of its planned network.
• The New York Post reported that the government agencies’ recommendation sent a clear message: “Enough is enough.”
• PC Magazine asked, “Did federal officials just slam the final nail into the coffin for LightSquared?”

Both LightSquared and Harbinger Capital Partners, the hedge fund that controls the company, issued statements late Friday on the development:

• LightSquared’s statement accused the federal government of demonstrating “bias and inappropriate collusion” with the GPS community. It urged the FCC and NTIA to “retake the lead” of testing for GPS filtering solutions.
• Harbinger’s statement expressed confidence that the tests will be shown to be invalid, saying that devices used in testing were obsolete and selected to guarantee failure.

The Guardian and The Evening Standard, both in the UK, reported that Inmarsat’s stock dropped after a U.S. government recommendation on LightSquared was released.

A Columbus Dispatch article that does not mention Friday’s development outlines the GPS/LightSquared controversy, focusing on Ohio-based concerns. The article notes concerns of local companies and lawmakers, including Ohio congressmen Mike Turner and Steve Austria, both of whom worked on legislation aimed at protecting GPS from interference from LightSquared.

• "Everything we do is based off of GPS," said Shane Imwalle, senior vice president of Woolpert, a Beavercreek company that is the largest surveying and mapping firm in the United States. "It's as fundamental to our infrastructure as the Internet."
• "It would bring us to a halt," Imwalle said. "Think about a tire company if you don't have rubber. It's just fundamental to what we do."

The Washington Post ran a profile of Marc Montagner, LightSquared’s new CFO:

• “When the opportunity came to join Lightsquared, I knew it was a wonderful chance to change the structure of the wireless industry. Lightsquared will allow any tablet- or device-maker to buy capacity from us and sell it directly to consumers. It’s a wonderful business model because we’ll have a low selling and marketing cost and low bad debt, so our margins are going to be very good. It’s a wonderful opportunity.”

Light Reading reported that 4G patent specialist Adaptix filed a patent infringement suit against LightSquared in the Texas Eastern District Court citing five patents it claims have been used without a licensing agreement.

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They had better hurry up....

Box Car wrote:

Light Reading reported that 4G patent specialist Adaptix filed a patent infringement suit against LightSquared in the Texas Eastern District Court citing five patents it claims have been used without a licensing agreement.

There may not be anything left in 8 months time.

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GPS Jamming

Just remember what administration is in power and how they payback campaign donations.
So what if the small people can't use their GPS - that is what paper maps are for.
So what if some planes fall out of the sky it wasn't our fault.
I am afraid that we are going to be in for a rougher ride.

not above

looks like Lightsquared might not be above attempting to bribe a senator

FCC seeks comment on LightSquared request

Quote:

Broadcast Engineering, FCC seeks comment on LightSquared request, Feb 2, 2012 3:28 PM

The FCC is seeking comment on a request by Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) licensee LightSquared for a declaratory ruling from the agency establishing that commercial Global Positioning System receivers aren’t entitled to interference protection from the ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) as long as it operates within the technical parameters laid out by the agency.

The FCC International Bureau has set a deadline of Feb. 27 for comments and March 13 for reply comments in the proceeding.

In January 2011, the bureau granted LightSquared a conditional waiver of its ATC integrated service rule and set up conditions the company was required to meet before it could commence operation of the terrestrial component of its integrated satellite and terrestrial 4G wireless service.

The waiver called for a process to resolve interference issues in which the company would work with the GPS community to resolve concerns over potential interference. The bureau conditioned completion of the process upon the commission, in consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, concluding that the harmful interference issues were resolved. To date, this process remains incomplete.

As part of the process, LightSquared submitted a final report from a technical working group it co-chaired with the U.S. GPS Industry Council (USGIC), and the commission issued a public notice requesting comment on the report. Reply comments from LightSquared laid out the interference protection to which GPS receivers are entitled.

http://broadcastengineering.com/RF/FCC-seeks-comment-on-LightSquared-request-02022012/#ixzz1lAUQPjeg

And the plot gets even thicker. Retired General McChrystal has approached the Department of Defense's mid-Atlantic Frequency Coordinator on behalf of LSQ seeking a frequency swap. This is one of the exit scenarios that has ben talked about almost since LSQ's waiver was granted.

But more to the point on the FCC seeking comment. Within the US, radio receivers are not licensed so therefore they cannot be protected from interference from signals broadcast on adjacent frequencies. While the petition may not seem like a big deal, it really is as it affects everything you receive wirelessly from cell phone calls to your wireless Internet and anything in between.

You can file a comment on the LSQ petition in several ways. The easiest is electronically and that can be done in several ways as well. You can write a letter or go to the FCC website. Enter the proceeding number (Docket # 11-109) and state you want to file brief comments. You can then either copy in the contents of your letter or upload it as a document. There is no need to be real formal, but don't use profanity. There is no need to go into a technical discussion, just explain that you are a) opposed to the petition because -and insert your reason, or b) you support the petition and again, state why.

Nontechnical comments from end-users often carry more weight than the responses from large law and engineering firms because YOU are the person that will have to live with any decision made.

With GPS receivers (the precsion ones more than our PNDs) the receiver must receive a broad range of frequencies. This is due to several reasons, the primary being the need to receive a correction signal that will calibrate the location from meters in accuracy to tenths of an inch accuracy in some instances. Now, picture the spectrum LSQ is authorized to use. It's in 2 blocks, each 10 MHz wide and the blocks are separated by still other assignments. Now each of the 10 MHz blocks is split into 2 5MHz segments also separated by other assignments. The lower block (and the furthest away from the actual GPS satellite frequency) straddles the channels used to provide the correction signals received by the precision units. The correction signals also include the WAAS signals used by the FAA for aviation. So a precision GPS unit has multiple receivers but a single antenna. That single antenna feeds a pre-amplifier which boosts the level of all signals to a point they can be used by the different receivers in the GPS. It's this required bandpass or width of the signals looked at by the receiver LSQ wants the FCC to say is not protected when it overlaps their frequencies.

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Thanks for the great post.

Boxcar wrote:

Quote:

With GPS receivers (the precsion ones more than our PNDs) the receiver must receive a broad range of frequencies. This is due to several reasons, the primary being the need to receive a correction signal that will calibrate the location from meters in accuracy to tenths of an inch accuracy in some instances. Now, picture the spectrum LSQ is authorized to use. It's in 2 blocks, each 10 MHz wide and the blocks are separated by still other assignments. Now each of the 10 MHz blocks is split into 2 5MHz segments also separated by other assignments. The lower block (and the furthest away from the actual GPS satellite frequency) straddles the channels used to provide the correction signals received by the precision units. The correction signals also include the WAAS signals used by the FAA for aviation. So a precision GPS unit has multiple receivers but a single antenna. That single antenna feeds a pre-amplifier which boosts the level of all signals to a point they can be used by the different receivers in the GPS. It's this required bandpass or width of the signals looked at by the receiver LSQ wants the FCC to say is not protected when it overlaps their frequencies.

Here is a PDF file that helped me visualize the statement.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/2003-allochr...

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View Comments

You can view the current crop of comments, both for and against, at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment_search/execute?proceed.... That link will produce a list of responses that can be viewed.

Many of them are amusing to read and range from well thought out and written to some that look like they were entered by someone typing with their toes and never having learned to spell or construct a proper sentence. There are several patterns that become apparent:

1) Government entities (state and local) and various business groups generally support the LSQ proposal and want it done now (they see broadband service coming to their communities). It is interesting to note that they all seem to use the same language leading me to believe they are copying boilerplate provided to them by LSQ. There was a similar pattern in the pro-merger responses to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. All tended to use the exact same language.

2) Businesses involved in surveying are against the LSQ plan and also seem to use similar language that probably came from their industry group.

3) The rest of the proposals from ordinary citizens generally go against LSQ and most tend to be individually written (as mentioned above, some have some pretty bad grammar, spelling and typos).

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funny

Aardvark wrote:

You can view the current crop of comments, both for and against, at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment_search/execute?proceed.... That link will produce a list of responses that can be viewed.

Many of them are amusing to read and range from well thought out and written to some that look like they were entered by someone typing with their toes and never having learned to spell or construct a proper sentence. There are several patterns that become apparent:

1) Government entities (state and local) and various business groups generally support the LSQ proposal and want it done now (they see broadband service coming to their communities). It is interesting to note that they all seem to use the same language leading me to believe they are copying boilerplate provided to them by LSQ. There was a similar pattern in the pro-merger responses to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. All tended to use the exact same language.

2) Businesses involved in surveying are against the LSQ plan and also seem to use similar language that probably came from their industry group.

3) The rest of the proposals from ordinary citizens generally go against LSQ and most tend to be individually written (as mentioned above, some have some pretty bad grammar, spelling and typos).

they were interesting - some seem liked they printed up form letters and had kids sign them

Surveyors

I was downtown this morning watching a survey crew. I asked the worker about using GPS. He said no. They have a laser set up at a fixed point and come off of that.
The only time they use a GPS is to locate a fixed point, usually out in a farmers field or on a fence line.
When they bought their GPS equipment, the salesman bragged about the accuracy. However, when a new fixed point was established with a GPS and then marked, the next time they tried to use it, it appeared to move a few inches.
So then I asked him, "As a taxpayer, what are you doing now?" The city is going to replace the sidewalks.
SWELL. I'm thinking its a waste of money to survey existing sidewalks.

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Follow the Money

This is being billed as broad band "for rural areas" for political purposes. Dig deeper and it appears that the focus will be in the metro areas, where customer $$$ is. Their business model is to sell the service wholesale to companies, such as Sprint who is contracting for bandwidth. Lightsquare is pulling out all the stops (lobbying, advertising, public relations), but you can't change the laws of physics.

Congress

Congress just sent the president the new FAA funding bill. One of the features is integrating GPS technology into air traffic control. Also drone a/c will be able to use more airspace.
No interference can be tolerated when lives are at stake.

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Interesting.. Thanks for

Interesting.. Thanks for sharing it even though it seems like bad news.

What a mess, Yes it will seriously interfer with most GPS units.

Since the FCC has allowed this stupid mess to go this far It's likely the tax payers will end up footing the bill to bail out Light Squared.

LightSquared Calls on FCC to Initiate Receiver Reliability

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It's over

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on February 14th that it will not approve LightSquared's proposal to build a national 4G-LTE network, after testing showed that the network would interfere with most existing GPS devices.

I Thought There Was A More Insidious Plan

Frovingslosh wrote:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on February 14th that it will not approve LightSquared's proposal to build a national 4G-LTE network, after testing showed that the network would interfere with most existing GPS devices.

I thought there was a plan to force GPS users to get a "smart phone" type of device to use for navigation. A GPSr only receives signals and it can't be tracked. A cell/smart phone has two way communications and can be tracked. I don't know why the government would want to spend the money it would take to track every phone at all times, but it would not be surprising if they were trying to do that.
Then we would only need some legislation to allow tracking without court aproval.
Maybe I was mistaken.

Ding dong, the (bad wimax provider) is dead

And it looks like LightSpeed's bleatings may be all for naught, because as of today the FCC has pretty much officially nixed it due to the risk of GPS interference:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/02/happy-valent...

Happy Valentine's Day indeed grin

And they Blew it!!!!

--
Always on the Road Knowing where I've Been

LSQ

RAMTROL wrote:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57378764-94/lightsquared-blew-it-and-heres-why/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

This sentence jumped out at me from your link.

Quote:

While most GPS equipment was shielded against interference, critical ones such as farming equipment, some aviation GPS equipment, and GPS devices used by the government were affected.

--
1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

No More Threat

I believe the plan was rejected due to impact on GPS,

--
romanviking

http://www.politico.com/news/

Really...

spokybob wrote:
RAMTROL wrote:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57378764-94/lightsquared-blew-it-and-heres-why/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

This sentence jumped out at me from your link.

Quote:

While most GPS equipment was shielded against interference, critical ones such as farming equipment, some aviation GPS equipment, and GPS devices used by the government were affected.

Go figure.....shouldn't it have been the other way around???

Or maybe they're affected because of the extra requirement to be more precise, those antennas magnify the interference from Lightsquared transmitters?

--
Always on the Road Knowing where I've Been

LightSquared may pursue spectrum swap

"LightSquared may pursue spectrum swap, claims political foul play

By Tammy Parker, Editor, Fierce BroadbandWireless

Fighting for its existence, LightSquared is strategizing a possible spectrum swap and targeting critics who it says convinced regulators to pull the plug on its planned LTE network.

Wednesday evening, the Wall Street Journal reported LightSquared might try to exchange its 1.6 GHz spectrum licenses for similar ones controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense, ostensibly because operation of LTE technology over the Defense Department's frequencies--which are used for aircraft testing--would not cause the same type of interference to GPS signals that occurred when used on LightSquared's L-band spectrum. The potential for a spectrum swap was also reported by Bloomberg. The FCC said on Tuesday it would not allow LightSquared to build its network as planned after testing evaluated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration showed GPS interference was unavoidable.

Failing at a spectrum swap, the only other option for LightSquared might be to sue the government regarding the FCC decision. The company issued a testy statement Wednesday afternoon in which CEO Sanjiv Ahuja asserted politics, not science, led to the FCC's decision. The company has repeatedly alleged it was targeted by deep-pocketed GPS players that had inside connections in Washington, D.C.

Ahuja contended the FCC arbitrarily changed its mind after encouraging LightSquared to build a national broadband system, on which the company has spent $4 billion. [Emphasis added] "There can be no more devastating blow to private industry and confidence in the consistency of the FCC's decision-making process," Ahuja said, adding, "The government decided to choose winners and losers."

Yet Ahuja said LightSquared remains committed to finding a solution that will enable it to build its network.

The Journal also reported that LightSquared has engaged investment bank Moelis & Co. as a restructuring adviser. LightSquared has considerable debt and is reportedly slated to make a $56 million payment to satellite partner Inmarsat by this Saturday. It is also due to make an April interest payment on $1.6 billion of secured loans.

LightSquared has a 15-year LTE network-sharing agreement with Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), which gave it until mid March to gain FCC approval for its network. Sprint spokesman Scott Sloat told FierceBroadbandWireless that if the agreement is terminated, Sprint will need to return an advance payment of $65 million that LightSquared made for work that was not yet completed when the companies mutually decided to halt work in December. He said Sprint's Network Vision project, including its LTE roll-out, remains on schedule.

"Sprint has been supportive of LightSquared's business plans and efforts to resolve potential interference issues expediently," Sloat added.
SI Wireless recently launched services as a Sprint roaming partner doing business as MobileNation in rural Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee and had signed on to use LightSquared's wholesale LTE network.

"We considered LightSquared one of several options, so it's not like we don't have a roadmap. Every roadmap is full of potholes. We always kept our options open. We knew there were issues," said Terry Addington, SI Wireless CEO. "We were keeping our fingers crossed that between the government, the GPS industry and LightSquared, a solution would have been developed."

Addington said LightSquared looked like a great option for smaller carriers looking to partner with a company that would have a national LTE presence. "We're very, very disappointed that a compromise couldn't have been worked out," he said.
Billionaire investor Philip Falcone told Reuters that LightSquared will not file for bankruptcy. His Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund is the startup's main backer and has scheduled a call with investors on Friday.

LightSquared signed more than 30 companies that wanted to piggyback on its planned wholesale LTE network. One of those companies, FreedomPop, on Wednesday signed a similar agreement with Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR), which announced it will have its first wave of 5,000 TD-LTE cell sites operating by June 2013."

Box Car Note: The entire story will come out eventually, but enough has been leaked letting people know the FCC didn't "act arbitrarily." While the grant of the conditional waiver is suspect, it was correctly conditioned with the proviso that LSQ demonstrate their use of the spectrum would have no harmful effects. LSQ failed to do so. The entire debacle will come down to exactly what Ahuja is claiming - politics were involved. The problem is he has the politics at the wring end. It was politics that got the waiver granted rather than the waiver being pulled.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

they almost have to

Box Car wrote:

"LightSquared may pursue spectrum swap, claims political foul play

LS sank nearly $4 Billion into this fiasco, and if they flat out give up they lose it all. They'll cling to any shred of anything that may recoup some of that cash. Their investors will demand it.

That said, this quote from one of the previously linked articles summed up their situation nicely:
"The denial of the waiver effectively turned the company into the walking dead." smile

Now no one can use the space...Yeah

--
Always on the Road Knowing where I've Been

...

Lightsquared still has money for lawyers, look for them to continue fighting this, at least to open up one of the several bands that is farthest from the GPS signals. I don't think they will get too far, but stranger things have happened with companies politically connected to the Administration.

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