Wed, Sep 21, 2011
Says GPS Industry Is Not At Fault For Equipment Design
In a letter to the chairman and CEO of a controversial wireless
company, House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri (R-WI)
(pictured) sought to set the record straight Thursday following the
company's ad in the Wall Street Journal the day before.
LightSquared, a wireless broadband company, has been mired in
controversy because it plans to use a portion of the radio spectrum
adjacent to that used by global positioning system (GPS) satellites
and the GPS equipment used in cars, planes, military equipment and
elsewhere to help users navigate trips or identify the location of
GPS-enabled equipment. A fully functioning GPS system is critical
to ongoing efforts to modernize the nation's air traffic control
system.
Petri, whose district includes Oshkosh, WI, gives voice to
concerns he has heard that LightSquared's ground-based equipment
will cause an unacceptable level of interference. In his letter to
LightSquared chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja, Petri noted: "The
U.S. Department of Transportation has stated the GPS interference
could result in almost 800 aviation fatalities and cost over $100
billion. Our military operations, search and rescue efforts and
many more activities affecting the safety and well being of the
general public could be impacted."
LightSquared has been reported to be working on a technical fix to
prevent interference. Petri says that's fine if they can pull it
off without causing an undue burden to GPS users, but in the
meantime he contends that the FCC has been far too accommodating in
allowing LightSquared to proceed with its plans.
In his letter, Petri objected to LightSquared's ad which placed the
blame for the controversy on the manufacturers of GPS equipment.
"This ignores the fact that GPS was located on this part of the
spectrum long before LightSquared devised its plan to employ a
terrestrial network within the Satellite band of radio spectrum,"
Petri wrote.
"In fact, your spectrum was purchased at bargain prices because
it was not intended for terrestrial operations," Petri continued.
"If it were always intended for such use, it would have been of
much higher value. It became high value spectrum when it became
clear that LightSquared's business plan was to abuse the ancillary
terrestrial authorization and use the spectrum for terrestrial
based operations - a radical change to the intended use of
spectrum."
"I would suggest that it is LightSquared using a part of the
spectrum for inappropriate purposes that has led to this dilemma,"
he wrote. "Don't blame GPS, a service that is vital to our national
security, aviation safety and efficiency, serves billions of users
and the overall public good."
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