GPS Group Counters LightSquared Claims

The Coalition to Save Our GPS challenged LightSquared's forecasts that the FCC will comprise fit to resolve the controversy over the company's conceived cellular meshing by the end of this year, using a conference call with reporters on Thursday to mosh the startup's business plan and technical claims.

The next round of examination on LightSquared's projected LTE (Long-lasting-Terminal figure Evolution) network will start next week at an Air Force base, said Jim Kirkland, vice president and overall counsel of Trimble Navigation, World Health Organization spoke for the Alignment to Preserve Our GPS on the call. Those tests are scheduled to live finished by Nov. 30, just further testing is likely to represent needed, Kirkland said. The U.S. Union Communications Commission wants the disturbance issue resolved before it bequeath approve LightSquared's network.

Timing is important for LightSquared, which has secure to make its network reach 100 million U.S. residents past the remnant of 2020. LightSquared officials were not immediately available to respond to Kirkland's comments.

The Coalition, which represents manufacturers and users of GPS (Global Positioning System), has been among the most communication critics of LightSquared's program to operate a political unit LTE network happening 40,000 terrestrial understructur Stations of the Cross, using frequencies just about to those used for GPS. Tests conducted earlier this year showed the network would kayo GPS for many devices, which scan a wide band of frequencies for weak signals from GPS satellites.

LightSquared has since said IT will shift to frequencies farther from the Global Positioning System band, but critics order solving interference even there would be expensive and time-consuming. In this depress band, the danger appears to be to high-precision GPS devices much as those secondhand for surveying, Agriculture Department and aviation.

On Thursday, the group also downplayed LightSquared's modern claims of technical solutions to the interference problem in the new band information technology plans to use. Earlier this month, LightSquared joined with partner Javad GNSS to unveil a filter that information technology said could personify easily added to many of the precision Global Positioning System receivers. The carrier also said Partron America has an appropriate filtering component, and on Thursday it announced that PCTel has developed an antenna that solves the encumbrance job.

The technical fixes LightSquared has announced are "prospective only" and would belik cost harder and more expensive to follow through than LightSquared has recommended, Kirkland aforementioned.

"You don't just do it the top off a surveil car and put together a New filter in," Kirkland aforementioned.

How much a GPS fix might cost and WHO should invite IT have started to shimmer a bigger part in the fence over LightSquared's electronic network. LightSquared has said it already committed millions of dollars to changes to its own technology and will give in the lead to $50 million to doctor gear closely-held by regime agencies. On Thursday's call, Kirkland and representative from the National Association of Manufacturers said businesses and agencies that use GPS shouldn't have to foot the Federal Reserve note for upgrades that they aforementioned could cost billions of dollars.

The Coalition aforesaid LightSquared will in effect receive a $10 billion boom if it's allowed to use its spectrum for a full cellular network that can stand on its own. FCC decisions aboriginal in the past decade only allowed the frequencies to exist put-upon for a small network to supplement satellite service. If the FCC had handed over the spectrum for a full mobile network, IT would have had to auction it dispatch rather than give IT for free to LightSquared's predecessor company, Kirkland said.

All the same, Kirkland said the industry group trusts that the FCC will not set aside LightSquared to work its network unless the hindrance problem is solved.

"We're taking the FCC at its word," Kirkland said.

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Religious service. Keep an eye on Stephen along Chitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's electronic mail turn to is stephen_lawson@idg.com

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/477752/gps_group_counters_lightsquared_claims.html

Posted by: myersgrell1966.blogspot.com