Lightsquared is the heavily backed company that’s planning/hoping to build a new 4G network using both ground towers and satellite capability. It recently acknowledged that, yes, the signals that it’s using DO cause interference with GPS devices, something that has been grumbled about since this whole idea got started. Now, Lightsquared is saying it will use a new part of the broadcast spectrum, further away from the part GPS systems use. This should take care of 99.5% of the problem, says the company. GPS companies are not impressed.
“There hasn’t been enough testing around this new plan,” said Bobby Sturgell, former acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and currently senior vice president at Rockwell Collins, a company that develops navigation products for the aviation industry. “No one wants to stop broadband services from going forward. But it shouldn’t be done in a way that is going to black-out GPS service. There are still enough details on the table that need to be figured out, and engineers should take as long as they need.”
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