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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1 ... 3 4 5 6
<<Page 7>>

LightSquared: Going from bad to worse

There's been a string of bad news recently for the wireless broadband startup after the FCC pulled its conditional waiver to build its nationwide network. The latest? Job cuts

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57382277-266/lightsquared-...

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Needs to be watched -

This is something that needs the same attention and kind of actions the anti-SOPA and anti-PIPA bunch - me included - took to stop those Congressional and Senatorial Bills.
Back to the emails and phone calls.

We pay one way or the other

We are going to pay and if we don`t fight back we are going lose more than many can imagine! Airwaves are a public resource and has should be managed for public use!

Money talks

As time goes on they will get their way and win both ways, extra airwaves, and do away with free GPS. Look at the Credit Card Industry, they give them out like candy, if someone steals your identity, its your job to fix it. Do they reimburse you for time spent fixing it, no, but you can buy life-lock or some other crap to guard your identity. Point is, they have the money to get what they want, no Congressmen will pass a bill holding Credit Card Companies responcible for ID theft. After all it was their negligence in checking ID fully that led to the ID theft. They should pay you for your time/trouble fixing your credit back. Big Money will always get their way, look at the Kennedy's

UK news story on

UK news story on jamming;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17119768

"We believe there's between 50 and 450 occurrences in the UK every day,"

maybe, maybe not

windwalker wrote:

As time goes on they will get their way and win both ways, extra airwaves, and do away with free GPS.

The news just the other day was LightSquared and Harbringer missed a payment, That says they don't have cash any more.

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for those that may have missed it

Reuters reported that LightSquared said yesterday (2/21) it would layoff 45% of its 330-employee workforce, calling it a "prudent and necessary cost savings measure to ensure the long-term success of the company." The article notes that according to OpenSecrets.org, LightSquared employed 15 lobbying firms last year, but that the company would not comment specifically on the number, saying only that it was forced to spend more because of opponents including the Coalition to Save Our GPS. "Everyone is lobbying and the reason our numbers went up is because their numbers went up," LightSquared spokesman Terry Neal said, adding "We have been outspent."

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And the hits keep on a comin....

LightSquared CEO resigns, Falcone joins board

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lightsquared-ceo-resigns-falco...

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...a little more light shed on the white house connection...

article reprinted from...

http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/28/lightsquared-ceo-resigns-a...

LightSquared CEO resigns amid revelations of company’s proximity to Obama White House

"
LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday amid revelations of his company’s political proximity — and his own closeness — to the White House and Obama administration officials.

The Daily Caller first reported one week ago on emails and documents that indicate political ties and numerous meetings between LightSquared and Obama administration officials as the company was undergoing regulatory review.

Ahuja’s resignation comes after Obama’s FCC suspended conditional approval of a waiver LightSquared needed to complete its high-speed broadband network. Until two weeks ago, the company’s final approval appeared imminent.

Ahuja, who had never donated to Democrats before and has not since, gave the maximum allowable $30,400 contribution to the Democratic National Committee on the same day his lawyers were trying to arrange a meeting for him at the White House with top Obama technology adviser Aneesh Chopra and other officials.

In emails between Ahuja’s lawyers and White House officials Ahuja wanted to meet with, his lawyers pointed out that he would attend an Obama fundraiser on or about the same day he wanted the meeting.

In a statement accompanying the company’s announcement of Ahuja’s resignation, he made no mention of those revelations.

“During my tenure at LightSquared, we all worked tirelessly to create the nation’s first open wireless broadband network and provide consumers with a new wireless broadband experience,” Ahuja said. “That work continues and I wish the company and its fine management team well as they work to achieve this important goal.”

LightSquared CEO resigns amid revelations of company’s proximity to Obama White House
Published: 1:43 PM 02/28/2012
By Matthew Boyle - The Daily Caller
Bio | Archive | Email Matthew Boyle Follow Matthew Boyle

The Daily Caller first reported one week ago on emails and documents that indicate political ties and numerous meetings between LightSquared and Obama administration officials as the company was undergoing regulatory review.

Ahuja’s resignation comes after Obama’s FCC suspended conditional approval of a waiver LightSquared needed to complete its high-speed broadband network. Until two weeks ago, the company’s final approval appeared imminent.

Ahuja, who had never donated to Democrats before and has not since, gave the maximum allowable $30,400 contribution to the Democratic National Committee on the same day his lawyers were trying to arrange a meeting for him at the White House with top Obama technology adviser Aneesh Chopra and other officials.

In emails between Ahuja’s lawyers and White House officials Ahuja wanted to meet with, his lawyers pointed out that he would attend an Obama fundraiser on or about the same day he wanted the meeting.

In a statement accompanying the company’s announcement of Ahuja’s resignation, he made no mention of those revelations.

“During my tenure at LightSquared, we all worked tirelessly to create the nation’s first open wireless broadband network and provide consumers with a new wireless broadband experience,” Ahuja said. “That work continues and I wish the company and its fine management team well as they work to achieve this important goal.”

LightSquared spokesman Terry Neal did not immediately respond to TheDC’s request for comment on the possible connections between Ahuja’s resignation and revelations published exclusively by TheDC.

According to the release, Ahuja will remain LightSquared’s chairman.

Philip Falcone, the CEO of Harbinger Capital Partners — which created LightSquared from its predecessor, SkyTerra — was appointed to the LightSquared board on Tuesday as well. The Obama administration FCC approved Harbinger’s purchase of SkyTerra after what appeared to be a series of favorable regulatory decisions amid White House visits.

In the press release, Falcone said he remains confident in LightSquared’s future despite these new revelations and the company’s reported challenges related to GPS interference issues.

“LightSquared’s objective, through its wholesale business model, is to provide increased competition and lower prices in the telecommunications industry, and to bring broadband cellular phone service to rural areas that currently don’t have such service and that has not and will not change,” Falcone said. “We are, furthermore, committed to working with the appropriate entities to find a solution to the recent regulatory issues. We, of course, agree that it is critical to ensure that national security, aviation and the GPS communities are protected.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/28/lightsquared-ceo-resigns-a...

Interesting

Quote:

“We are, furthermore, committed to working with the appropriate entities to find a solution to the recent regulatory issues.

Working on engineering issues would be a better solution.

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The Hail Mary Pass Comes

It ain't over yet (unfortunately):

http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-internationa...?

LightSquared Makes Last-ditch Case to FCC
Aviation International News » March 2012

by John Sheridan
March 2, 2012, 5:50 AM

Despite rising jubilation among the GPS community in the middle of last month that LightSquared had at last met its comeuppance, the would-be nationwide wireless broadband provider was not dead yet as this issue went to press. With its technical arguments virtually exhausted, LightSquared entered into a “Pleading Cycle” at the FCC on January 27, using what is likely its only lifeline.

Simply put, in a Pleading Cycle opposing parties have reached something like a technical standoff, and one side feels that there are still points of law or precedents that can demonstrate the legality of its claims, in this case LightSquared’s contention that the GPS community is in the wrong. Counsel for the GPS side must counter by demonstrating that such laws or interpretations are not applicable.

Pleading Cycles are unusual–but apparently not at the FCC, which deals with telecom fights that involve big money–since in most civil cases the evidence introduced is sufficient to dispense with an analysis of the actual wording and true intent of the relevant law. But in law, even quite innocuous words can be said to have meaning beyond the obvious. As one high-profile person once testified, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” It appears that formal pleading can take interpretation to that level.

And in the LightSquared case, the stakes are indeed unusually high. If the company loses its plea, owners and shareholders could lose a substantial part of the original $3 billion investment, as speculators in distressed firms have already begun to pick away at LightSquared’s now heavily discounted share holdings. Winning, on the other hand, could bring in a bounty of more than $12 billion to owners and investors, it is reported.

For the GPS side, losing would wreak havoc among the estimated one billion GPS users worldwide, while winning can only hasten action by the international community to ensure that appropriate legislation will forestall this situation from ever rising again.

Nevertheless, while the recent Congressional testimonies of government and industry officials appear to have made an indisputable case for the GPS side, there remains the possibility that LightSquared’s legal consultants might find a loophole in the law and win their case. Sometimes, as Charles Dickens’s Mr. Bumble ungrammatically declared, “the law is a ass–a idiot.” Let all who trust in GPS trust that the consultants don’t succeed.

All legal comments from each side during the 30-day Pleading Cycle were to be submitted by February 27, with the parties required to file their responses to the comments by March 13. Following that, at a date not yet announced, the FCC will deliver its ruling.

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I support the right to keep and arm bears.

phone GPS

More and more, I use my phone for GPS anyway. Just more convenient to use, since I have my phone with me 24-7. One day, I misplaced my phone. Realizing that I was totally cut off from the outside world, I started hyperventilating, my pulse quickened, felt dizzy, and rather sick, until I finally found it. I like my 765t, but my phone is increasingly more and more accurate at pin pointing addresses, with detailed mapping.

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Unless you are the lead sled dog, the view never changes. I is retard... every day is Saturday! I still use the Garmin 3590 LMT even tho I upgraded to the Garmin 61 LMT. Bigger screen is not always better in my opinion.

Sprint Nextel to pull the plug on Lightsquared partnership

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LightSquared continues to fight for survival

LightSquared, the beleaguered wireless operator, is not giving up on its plans to build a nationwide 4G LTE network. And it's calling on the FCC to take action.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57399074-266/lightsquared-...

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if they're both drunk enough

As posted in The Register:

LightSquared sheds a lonely tear as Sprint legs it

We can still be friends... right?

By Bill Ray • Get more from this author

Posted in Wireless, 16th March 2012 18:04 GMT

LightSquared is framing Sprint's departure in the best way it can, promising that the pair will remain friends and may even hook up again some time if they're both drunk enough.

Sprint's departure from the infrastructure-sharing deal was widely expected, and reported, but Sprint takes with it LightSquared's best hope of building the national mobile broadband network with which it had planned to shake up, or perhaps shake down, the American wireless industry.

That apparently remains a goal, but seems to have shifted into the medium term as LightSquared says it:

...will also continue to focus on providing mobile satellite voice and data communications to private industry, public safety organizations and emergency responders across the United States and throughout North America.

Sprint, meanwhile:

...continues to be supportive of LightSquared's business plans and appreciates the company's efforts to find a resolution to the interference issues impacting its ability to offer service on the 1.6GHz spectrum.

Those GPS interference issues have resulted in the FCC refusing to let LightSquared deploy its network. That decision is still open for public debate, and a robust submission from LightSquared is expected. In the meantime Sprint has taken the contracted opportunity to get out of bed with its bonkers other-half and get on with its life. ®

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GPS Signal

groundhog wrote:

More and more, I use my phone for GPS anyway. Just more convenient to use, since I have my phone with me 24-7.

Perhaps, but where do you think your phone gets its GPS information from? The towers exclusively? The iPhone 4S, for example, uses the satellites for accurate information so would be just as susceptible to LSQ's interferences as my standalone 765T. Perhaps more so since GPS is not the phone's primary function.

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I support the right to keep and arm bears.

GPS Signal

groundhog wrote:

More and more, I use my phone for GPS anyway. Just more convenient to use, since I have my phone with me 24-7.

Perhaps, but where do you think your phone gets its GPS information from? The towers exclusively? The iPhone 4S, for example, uses the satellites for accurate information so would be just as susceptible to LSQ's interferences as my standalone 765T. Perhaps more so since GPS is not the phone's primary function.

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I support the right to keep and arm bears.

Now Dish Network

Disk Network is planning a network simlar to LightSquared's plan. Except that Dish will use spectrum about 400 MHz away from GPS. Shouldn't be any problem, according to 'experts' but we'll see.

Article here:
http://tinyurl.com/7lklx3a

LightSquared tries to revive broadband network

A Virginia company is trying to revive its plan for a national high-speed wireless network, arguing that it can address federal regulators' concerns over interference with GPS devices.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-lightsquared-revive-broa...

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RE: LightSquared tries

RAMTROL wrote:

A Virginia company is trying to revive its plan for a national high-speed wireless network, arguing that it can address federal regulators' concerns over interference with GPS devices.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-03-lightsquared-revive-broadband-network.html

They didn't believe them the first time. Why should they the second?

The 3 sitting commissioners (2 Dem, 1 Rep) are actually drafting revisions to the rules for the MSS spectrum that will all but eliminate the Auxiliary Terrestrial Component (which is what LSQ wanted) from the band. With the evidence of White House meddling any additional proposal from Falcone is DOA.

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OH NO

OH NO

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Huh?

Box Car wrote:

With the evidence of White House meddling any additional proposal from Falcone is DOA.

I would suggest that replacing billions of dollars of military, commercial, and private GPS systems is far from 'meddling'. It would be grossly irresponsible to give a commercial enterprise like LSQ, a license to virtually cause financial burden to the taxpayers.

Like the US is flush with cash, right? rolleyes

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.

.

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

With what could possibly be

With what could possibly be LightSquared's parting shot.

http://www.lightsquared.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/FCC_R...

Now, after reading this, consider the remarks of James Kirkland,Garmin's Executive VP and Chief Legal Counsel.

Kirkland wrote:

• “Try as it might, LightSquared cannot hide the fact that the International Bureau’s Conditional Waiver Order in January 2011 was crystal clear that LightSquared was required to demonstrate noninterference to GPS, or it would not be permitted to move forward. This condition reflected the FCC’s consistent policy that operations in LightSquared’s mobile satellite spectrum were not permitted to interfere with GPS. LightSquared has failed to satisfy the condition it accepted in January 2011 and the Bureau now has only one permissible action that it can take, which is to rescind the waiver. All of LightSquared’s arguments at this point amount to nothing more than requests for changes in the rules after the game is over, or requests for special treatment to avoid the consequences of its ill-conceived plans. There is simply no legal or other basis for any of LightSquared’s claims.”

And just to add my final note, here's what the Merriam-Webster dictionary has to say about ancillary which is what the A in the terrestrial based component of the mobile satellite service (MSS) means:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ancillary

The network proposed by Lightsquared makes use of the Anncillary Terrestrial Component spectrum designated for space to earth communications. Services currently using this ATC include Sirius for it's satellite radio service allowing the service to be received in dense urban areas where buildings would block the satellite signal. It is, and was solely intended to augment a signal from a satellite, not replace it with something else.

LSQ, in it's filings likes to throw numbers around without a lot of context. One of the ones they like to throw out is their system will only broadcast with a power equal to or below the FCC allowed level of 35 dBw. That doesn't sound like a whole lot - until you realize that power is exponential. Multiply the dBw in this case by 100 and now you can see what the power they wanted to use truly is. When you consider the satellite is sending out a signal of about only 50w or 16 dBw from up to 20,000 miles away you begin to see the problem. The radiated power changes by a factor of 2 for every 3dB of change. A 19 dBw signal is 100W while a 13 dBw signal is 25W.

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Huh?

Juggernaut wrote:

Like the US is flush with cash, right? rolleyes

You mean were not??? We can always print more. lol

It's Clear that

someone needs to put a stake thru Lightsquared's heart.

They've got a reputation to keep up like Solyndra!!!

You KNOW it isn't going to come from the Obama Administration. Hope people remember the collusion in November!

Fred

This isn't a political forum

FZbar wrote:

someone needs to put a stake thru Lightsquared's heart.

They've got a reputation to keep up like Solyndra!!!

You KNOW it isn't going to come from the Obama Administration. Hope people remember the collusion in November!

Fred

Please keep politics out of the threads, we have had a few closed before for this reason. I'm sure one of the moderators would be able to provide the link to reference this.

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Lightsquared filing for Bankruptcy??

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-falcone-mulls-volunt...

Hedge fund manager Philip Falcone said in an interview on Wednesday he is "seriously considering" filing a voluntary bankruptcy for LightSquared, the struggling telecom startup in which his Harbinger Capital Partners is the majority owner.

Falcone said a bankruptcy is one option he is considering as he tries to find a way to salvage the company and keep its creditors at bay.

He said a bankruptcy would allow the company time to find a way to deal with communications interference issues that have arisen with the planned buildout of a nationwide wireless broadband network.

Falcone said a bankruptcy would not necessarily wipe out the equity holders of LightSquared because the spectrum it owns retains value.

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the spectrum it owns retains value

Sure. Falcone might talk his investors about starting up a new satellite radio network.

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Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips

Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips
April 6, 2012

A front page article in today’s Washington Post reports that Philip Falcone accused the FCC in an interview of bowing to special interests that could have been hurt by LightSquared’s plans, noting that the company could soon file for bankruptcy.

• “We were ready to put the shovel in the ground, but they pulled the rug out from under us,” Falcone said. Lobbyists, he added, “have a tremendous amount of power, and I was shocked by how regulators responded to that pressure.”
• “We don’t pick sides,” FCC general counsel Austin Schlick said. “Our decision-making here, as on other issues, will continue to be based on the record and guided by law, engineering and settled policies that seek to remove regulatory barriers to broadband while avoiding harmful interference.”
• “The message to investors and other businesses is that if this couldn’t work, what can?” said Jeffrey Silva, an analyst at the Medley Global Advisors research firm. “When this came out of the box, they had all the right licenses, and there was no good reason to believe it wasn’t on solid ground.”
• “This is capital I raised and put into LightSquared based on a license we got and based on rules and regulations,” Falcone said. “I did everything I was supposed to do.”

LightSquared issued a short statement from Falcone yesterday, clarifying earlier comments about a possible bankruptcy for the company:

• "While no decision has yet been made, the rationale behind a voluntary filing would be to give us the necessary time to continue with our vision, build the network and protect the company from creditors who are more interested in a quick flip."

The New York Post reported that Falcone’s comment about creditors interested in a “quick flip” was likely directed at a group of creditors led by Carl Icahn. The article notes that creditors held a conference call yesterday to discuss the situation according to sources. It also notes that experts predict that Falcone will make a decision ahead of an April 20 payment deadline the company has with Inmarsat.

A Communications Daily article quotes industry analysts on what a bankruptcy could mean for LightSquared.

• Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates, said moving toward a bankruptcy is unlikely to change how the FCC will rule on LightSquared’s proposal. Bankruptcy allows LightSquared "to reduce its spending levels and preserve its resources, which is what they'll need to do to fund what will be a lengthy litigation battle."
• Pressure from creditors "may have animated Falcone to concede at this time a bankruptcy option he heretofore has publicly refused to put on the table as he contemplates possible regulatory alternatives and legal action," Medley Global Advisors analyst Jeff Silva wrote investors. "We do not believe that LightSquared's chances for regulatory recovery are good," Silva said: As long as there's a GPS interference issue with LightSquared's L-band frequencies, "the value of the company's spectrum asset will likely remain diminished."

Several outlets continue to report that Falcone said he is considering seeking bankruptcy protection for LightSquared, including: Total Telecom, Slash Gear, All Things Digital, Space News, FINalternatives, The Kansas City Star, CED Magazine, Daily Finance, Light Reading, AOPA Pilot, CNET, Financial Times, Helicopter Association International, DSL Reports, BGR, CNN Money and the Washington Business Journal.

A cite list and links to the full text of these and other articles follow.

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There's No Escape from Crony Capitalism

Forbes, WASHINGTON, 4/10/2012 @ 1:21PM, Lightsquared Debacle Shows There's No Escape from Crony Capitalism, By James Poulos

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamespoulos/2012/04/10/lightsqua...

I just love the opening statement:

Quote:

For multibillion-dollar 4G LTE startup Lightsquared, the lesson is simple: live by the government, die by the government.

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Deadline looms for Falcone on LightSquared control

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LiqhtSquared Moves Toward Bankruptcy

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230419270457740...

Quote:

Hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone's LightSquared Inc. venture was preparing Sunday to file for bankruptcy protection after negotiations with lenders to avoid a potential debt default faltered, said people familiar with the matter.

LightSquared and its lenders still have until 5 p.m. Monday to reach a deal that would keep the wireless-networking company out of bankruptcy court, and there were some indications over the weekend that a final decision hadn't yet been reached on its fate.

Thanks for posting this

Thanks for posting this interesting article.

File for bankruptcy so they

File for bankruptcy so they can keep on litigating, eh? Never say never, but I don't see how they can expect to resuscitate this one. It was interesting though how everyone thought the approval would be a slam dunk deal.

LightSquared files for bankruptcy

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/14/technology/lightsquared-bank...

Quote:

Unable to reach a deal with its lenders, upstart wireless carrier LightSquared filed for bankruptcy Monday.

and the news keeps coming

"Bloomberg, The Hill, The New York Times’ DealBook, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Communications Daily, TR Daily and others report that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed fraud charges against Philip Falcone, alleging the hedge fund adviser misused client funds, manipulated financial markets and betrayed investors. Most stories note that Mr. Falcone’s plans for LightSquared were blocked when the network was shown to cause GPS interference and that LightSquared has since filed for bankruptcy. Falcone will “vigorously” defend the charges, according to his attorney.

In an SEC press release that does not mention LightSquared, Robert Khuzami, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement said:

· 'Today’s charges read like the final exam in a graduate school course in how to operate a hedge fund unlawfully”….“Clients and market participants alike were victimized as Falcone unscrupulously used fund assets to pay his personal taxes, manipulated the market for certain bonds, favored some clients at the expense of others, and violated trading rules intended to prohibit manipulative short sales.'"

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it just won't die

Quote:

FCC blocks new cell phone
By: Rep. Cliff Stearns
10/22/2012 02:24 PM

Last month my Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on the LightSquared Network through the lens of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) process, which left a private company bankrupt and in regulatory limbo and 40 MHz of its spectrum holdings sitting fallow.

LightSquared began its efforts to build a national wireless broadband network in 2003, after the FCC issued an order permitting mobile satellite service providers located in the L-band to integrate an “Ancillary Terrestrial Component,” or land-based, cellular service.

Since that time, LightSquared and its predecessors have been involved in multiple proceedings before the FCC involving the development of its terrestrial component. During these proceedings, LightSquared reached agreements with GPS companies to filter out all of its “Out Of Band Emissions” that may result from its terrestrial base stations and continued to move forward with its plans to develop its network.

Only after nine years of multiple public FCC proceedings and a multibillion-dollar investment by LightSquared did the GPS industry raise overload interference issues. They reported their concerns in a proceeding that ultimately led to a conditional waiver for the company, putting its investments on holds until the interference issue could be resolved.

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/10/22/stearns-fcc-blocks-new...

The opening paragraphs of this make me wonder just how much has been contributed to Rep. Stearns campaign funds.

First off, LightSquared wasn't in existence in 2003, it was a company they bought but wasn't delivering satellite services to the consumer. The “Ancillary Terrestrial Component" was allowed to enable, at that time XM Satellite Radio to use ground based transmitters to fill in service in urban areas. The word ancillary actually means "subordinate; subsidiary,or auxiliary; assisting." What LSQ proposes isn't a supporting service, it's a primary service in which broadcast from satellite becomes secondary to the signals from the ground based transmitters.

What's being played out in the media on this is essentially a game of chicken. The FCC is a legislative body in that they receive their direction and authority from Congress not the Executive Branch headed by the President. The President does appoint the heads of the different bureaus within the FCC who, with few exceptions, are all lawyers with no actual experience working with radio or TV and their signals. It was a Presidential appointee that granted the waiver starting this mess.

Granted, the law does allow the construction of these 1,500 Watt stations in the frequency band that is adjacent to the GPS signals, but the law reads the terrestrial based transmitters are to be ancillary, or supporting signals from satellites rather than replacing them. That is why they needed a waiver - or pass - from complying with the law.

Now, Congress has the power to change the FCC regulation by passing a law which allows LSQ to build their system as designed, but wonder why no legislation has been introduced? It's because they know it not only doesn't pass the smell test, it would never make it through both houses of Congress.

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Congressman Steams

From Wikipedia and other sources.

Quote:

Clifford Bundy "Cliff" Stearns, Sr. (born April 16, 1941) is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 6th congressional district, serving since 1989. He is a member of the Republican Party. On August 14, 2012, Stearns lost to veterinarian Ted Yoho in a four-way Republican primary by about 1 percent of the vote. Due to redistricting every 10 years, Stearns ran in a new district that did not include his hometown and one of his staunch bases of support. [2] After the primary election, Stearns called Yoho to congratulate him and Yoho described Stearns as "classy" and "humble" in his remarks.[3]

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alarming

Box Car wrote:
Quote:

The President does appoint the heads of the different bureaus within the FCC who, with few exceptions, are all lawyers with no actual experience working with radio or TV and their signals. It was a Presidential appointee that granted the waiver starting this mess.

I find this quite alarming, and unfortunately all too common these days. The decision makers at the FCC should all be required to have a thorough understanding of how RF works and how the spectrum is used. Having untrained lawyers making these decisions is like having a nun referee a boxing match - except the nun would be impartial and lawyers seldom are...

in later news...

For those of you who haven't guessed, I do a lot of spectrum work, this came across in a clipping service I receive.

Dow Jones Newswires, Bloomberg and Reuters report that a judge on Monday said LightSquared could move forward with its $2.65 billion restructuring proposal over the strong objection of Dish Network chairman Charlie Ergen, LightSquared's largest secured creditor. “We have no choice,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Shelley said. “I’m not going to say today, ‘lights out on this company.’”

While we shake our collective heads and wonder why the judge thinks the way she does, we need to remember that she probably does not have an engineering, and specifically an electrical engineering background so radio and radio signals, interference, propagation and other terms being bandied about in these proceedings mean as much to her as some of the Latin phrases used in law mean to the average person on the street. The judge has her mission, that to ensure the letter of the law is followed and to provide every opportunity for LightSquared to succeed. After all, how many of you realize that what you carry around with you as a "phone" is, at the basic level, a two-way radio performing the same basic functions as the walkie-talkie carried by soldiers as far back as WWII.

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better than making it up

I'd hope we'd expect a judge to follow the law, rather than making something up to get an outcome she thinks nice.

That is kind of the idea of a government "of laws, and not of men". (see John Adams, Novanglus Essay No. 7, ca. 1775)

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personal GPS user since 1992

More to the conspiracy theory...

"It will now be interesting to see how both Fortress and Cerberus feel about the outcome of the FCC workshop on “GPS Protection and Receiver Performance” last week, where Tom Wheeler [FCC Chairman] went to the trouble of noting emphatically that the meeting was “not about FCC-mandated receiver standards” and LightSquared received support from the White House (whose representative, Tom Power, was involved in discussions with LightSquared back in summer 2011) but apparently few other participants."

More at: http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2014/06/27/playing-in-the-mud/

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Good news for GPS field--

The tmfassociates article was a fascinating read (in a pathological sort of way) updating the very nasty financial infighting.

But the results from the FCC workshop in June were quite good for the GPS field -- the FCC gets it, from the top down, that new "standards" can't just be imposed on GPS manufacturers -- there are mission critical (indeed, life critical) GPS-based systems based on existing standards that will be in use (flying) for another two decades.

Current applications of GPS are abbreviated as PNT - Position, Navigation, and Timing. While we tend to focus on Nav (and Position) on this forum, the T part, Timing, is another critical and growing aspect of GPS use, covering telecommunications, television, finance, as well as my favorites, enabling higher precision in measurements of all kinds.

Presentations also emphasized that while that raw GPS data is useful, it becomes even more useful (and disruptive) when combined (fused) with other sensors and data -- from the obvious, such as fusing GPS with inertial data for nav platforms, to fusing GPS data with sources such as social media to provide us all with "opportunities" such as precision targeted advertising many of us would rather forgo (like providing mosquitoes with better targeting?)...

I think the current FCC gets it. But will the next Commission? While you may consider a lot of these presentations and statements to be repetitive, they build a record which hopefully will be very, very difficult to ignore in the light of a future political expediency...

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PNT

k6rtm wrote:

The tmfassociates article was a fascinating read (in a pathological sort of way) updating the very nasty financial infighting.

But the results from the FCC workshop in June were quite good for the GPS field -- the FCC gets it, from the top down, that new "standards" can't just be imposed on GPS manufacturers -- there are mission critical (indeed, life critical) GPS-based systems based on existing standards that will be in use (flying) for another two decades...

I think the current FCC gets it. But will the next Commission? While you may consider a lot of these presentations and statements to be repetitive, they build a record which hopefully will be very, very difficult to ignore in the light of a future political expediency...

Tom Wheeler is from industry, the cellular industry to be specific. They do get it regarding GPS and the timing as the timing from GPS syncs the radios and controls the hand-offs from one site to the next. About the only time you drop a call during hand-off now is because the new site is at capacity and not because your handset couldn't handle the timing difference between the two sites.

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Timing

Box Car wrote:
k6rtm wrote:

The tmfassociates article was a fascinating read (in a pathological sort of way) updating the very nasty financial infighting.

But the results from the FCC workshop in June were quite good for the GPS field -- the FCC gets it, from the top down, that new "standards" can't just be imposed on GPS manufacturers -- there are mission critical (indeed, life critical) GPS-based systems based on existing standards that will be in use (flying) for another two decades...

I think the current FCC gets it. But will the next Commission? While you may consider a lot of these presentations and statements to be repetitive, they build a record which hopefully will be very, very difficult to ignore in the light of a future political expediency...

Tom Wheeler is from industry, the cellular industry to be specific. They do get it regarding GPS and the timing as the timing from GPS syncs the radios and controls the hand-offs from one site to the next. About the only time you drop a call during hand-off now is because the new site is at capacity and not because your handset couldn't handle the timing difference between the two sites.

You also wouldn't be able to make a phone call on your land-line phone without timing supplied by GPS. Over 99% of all the telephone central offices and toll switches are digital and need to be in step with each other. Keeping them sync'd up would be VERY hard without GPS timing.

not so

jackj180 wrote:

[
You also wouldn't be able to make a phone call on your land-line phone without timing supplied by GPS. Over 99% of all the telephone central offices and toll switches are digital and need to be in step with each other. Keeping them sync'd up would be VERY hard without GPS timing.

Not so. The 5ESS and the other digital switches used a very stable stratum clock which was synced to the National Bureau of Standards clock which provides the timing for GPS. These were in use long before the first GPS satellite was launched.

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Really???

Box Car wrote:

Not so. The 5ESS and the other digital switches used a very stable stratum clock which was synced to the National Bureau of Standards clock which provides the timing for GPS. These were in use long before the first GPS satellite was launched.

Hmmm, then I guess that the company I retired from spent millions of dollars on clocks sync'd to GPS unnecessarily. I maintained one of them at a fiber optic junction site. The switch in Detroit had it's own clock as well. I also thought that the 5ESS switches were outdated now. They were designed to work with an analog network, not digital.

and

jackj180 wrote:
Box Car wrote:

Not so. The 5ESS and the other digital switches used a very stable stratum clock which was synced to the National Bureau of Standards clock which provides the timing for GPS. These were in use long before the first GPS satellite was launched.

Hmmm, then I guess that the company I retired from spent millions of dollars on clocks sync'd to GPS unnecessarily. I maintained one of them at a fiber optic junction site. The switch in Detroit had it's own clock as well. I also thought that the 5ESS switches were outdated now. They were designed to work with an analog network, not digital.

What did they do before there were the GPS satellites? GPS has been available for civilian use for only about 20 years. Before that, highly accurate clocks were used throughout the network with each having to be synced on a regular basis to the NBS in either Washington (now closed) or Denver (Boulder). Oh, the 5E was the workhorse that brought digital to the subscriber. While it has been replaced with newer switches based on IP routing, the system and its outlying SLC-96's are still quite prevalent.

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Before GPS, devices received

Before GPS, devices received the time data stream from the NBS atomic clock in Boulder. I built a Heathkit GC-1000 in the '80s that captured and decoded this data stream to update the time display. The downside was that it relied on a good radio signal (from Colorado) and needed three complete captures to update the time. This clock is still working fine to this day BTW.

Today there are clocks that can capture the digital stream from the GPS system and update themselves. The advantage is the signal is very easy to capture anywhere in the world: just aim the antenna at a clear view of the sky. Since the GPS bird itself receives it's time from same ultra accurate NBS atomic clocks, the time displayed on the clock in your family room is ultra-accurate too. I built a clock to receive these signals to set itself as well. Indicators on the display confirm that the time is -exactly- right when they are illuminated. You can actually see it adjust the seconds when it has lost and then re-gained the data stream from the GPS satellite.

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