Rocky Mountain Tracking » FCC

NTIA Says “LightSquared is in Wonderland”

John Chapman — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:00:49 +0000

Let’s get the critical, boring information out of the way first: OSTP is a government organization. OSTP stands for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Here’s the scoop: a little over 13,000 documents regarding the LightSquared matter were just released by OSTP, chronicling the fascinating implosion of the $3 billion company.

What’s “the LightSquared matter?” LightSquared is a company with an ambitious goal: providing a 4G network to the entire lower 48. The company started in high spirits, with a massive investment from billionaire Philip Falcone, and jubilant courting of the FCC for the proper slices of airwaves to provide that network to data-hungry consumers.

As LightSquared designed its network, they ran into a bit of a hiccup: they needed transmitters to boost the 4G signal. As engineering went forward, they discovered they needed a lot of transmitters: over 40,000.

Testing began, and disaster struck. LightSquared’s frequencies were disrupting GPS signals all over the place. If the network went live, then airliners, government GPS trackers, cell phones, tablet computers, vehicle GPSs, and fleet GPS trackers would go wacky. The results might be cataclysmic.

LightSquared moved forward while the GPS industry cried foul. The result is a now-political mess resembling a technological and industrial Vietnam War.

Now that those OSTP documents have been released, a fascinating chronicle of LightSquared’s (doomed?) effort is publicly available. One email, from an administrator in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), bore the subject line, “LightSquared is in Wonderland.”

And so LightSquared stands in a unique position. Its allies are beginning to ditch. Only Sprint, which partnered in the LightSquared venture early on, remains. However, they may only hold on until mid-March as the company struggles to resolve its FCC woes and build a proper network that does not shut down GPS signals.

What will remain once the LightSquared mess is over is this: a seemingly unquenchable consumer demand for wireless Internet. With consumers desiring an Internet connection anywhere, everywhere, all the time, faster than it ever was, LightSquared’s vision of capitalizing on that demand appears to be drifting off into Wonderland.

LightSquared and GPS Play the Blame Game

Marisa O'Connor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:00:06 +0000

For more than a year, LightSquared has been fighting for the right to develop a nationwide wireless broadband network. The company has reserved the spectrum adjacent to the constellation of GPS satellites. The spectrum was originally designated for satellite use, but LightSquared was granted permission for terrestrial use of the space in 2005. However, before the service can be launched, the FCC is requiring that LightSquared prove their broadband signals will not cause interference for established GPS devices.

The GPS industry and U.S. military are lobbying hard to protect the existing GPS signals. Not only would interference affect thousands of citizens’ smartphone GPS signals, but more dangerously, it could affect emergency response teams, military operations and air traffic control. After recent testing showed too much interference, the FCC denied LightSquared’s request to go ahead with development. LightSquared understandably didn’t take the news well and even accused the government of rigging the testing process. Further, LightSquared is pushing responsibility for the signal interference on the GPS industry, saying that they should be responsible for adding filters to their sensitive receivers.

“While the Commission often differs to market forces rather than directly regulating receiver performance, regulation of RNSS receivers is needed because the market has failed to provide a sufficient incentive for all manufacturers of commercial RNSS receivers to ensure that their devices operate reliably in the vicinity of authorized transmitters in adjacent bands.”

The battle between the GPS industry and LightSquared seems to heat up with each passing month, and the company says it’s not opposed to taking legal action if it comes to that. LightSquared certainly has a lot at stake, including a multiyear, multibillion dollar deal with Sprint Nextel. If the company fails to get regulatory approval by mid-March, they could lose their deal.

More Warnings About LightSquared GPS Receiver Interference

Mark Rummel — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:51 +0000

The company LightSquared has gained a huge amount of publicity in recent weeks, but perhaps not for the reasons it would prefer. The wireless network company ignited a controversy when it decided to stand up to GPS users, going ahead with a plan to broadcast signal on a bandwidth immediately adjacent to GPS receiver bands. Because GPS devices sometimes cross over into this adjacent band, broadcast of signal on that band occasionally shows up as interference with GPS. LightSquared stands its ground, claiming that it is illegal for GPS companies to claim protection from interference on bandwidths it does not own, and has in fact obtained preliminary approval from the FCC to go ahead with its plans. An independent association, however, is publicly joining the voices that say the potential danger to public safety is simply not worth the risk that the LightSquared network would create at this time.

The Association of Old Crows (AOC), a group made up of experts in the military technology field, wants the government to work harder to find a safe solution to the conflict before allowing LightSquared to send out a network signal that could disrupt GPS receivers. It’s not the everyday convenience of smartphone users that the group is concerned about, but the growing reliance on GPS devices by military, airline safety, and emergency response personnel. Airlines, for example, use the GPS to give pilots an accurate reading on nearby mountains. Even one glitch in a system used in any of these areas could easily cost lives, and that risk makes it essential to block the proposed LightSquared network until a safer alternative can be found. The warning is preceded by a letter sent by members of Congress to the FCC during the summer, voicing concern about the unanswered questions related to the LightSquared network.

One idea put forth by the AOC is for the government to meet LightSquared halfway, providing funding to research an alternative plan that would not affect GPS receiver signal. This would allow the company to begin broadcasting while giving authorities a little more time to find a solution to the GPS interference problem. With the speed at which essential services are incorporating GPS receivers into their everyday operations, however, they would do well to work fast.

LightSquared vs. Agriculture

Khristen Foss — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:58:32 +0000

After results were released by the Department of Commerce committee put in place by the FCC to decide the fate of LightSquared’s 4G LTE network, the company has fought back and is blaming the process, stating it was flawed. As we reported here at RMT last week, the committee concluded there was no need for additional testing which was conducted to determine whether or not the network interferes with the operation of countless GPS devices used all over the world.

Millions count on a GPS device of some form each day, whether it is a navigation device in a car or a tracking device relied upon to keep rescue workers safe. The committee concluded that the interference was so bad, “no additional testing is warranted at this time” regardless of fixes mentioned by LightSquared. It was even mentioned in a letter from the co-chairs of the committee, deputy secretaries of the Departments of Defense and Transportation, that the FAA themselves determined it would interfere with their flight safety systems which rely on GPS tracking technology.

One industry making its opinion heard on the issue is the agricultural industry. If LightSquared is approved to expand access to broadband, roughly 500,000 precision GPS receivers will be negatively effected. More and more farmers rely on these receivers to guide their tractors through the fields, saving them billions in the long run. Imagine the catastrophes that could occur if the tractor tilling the fields veers off course due to interference with the device receiving the GPS coordinates.

LightSquared is quick to defend themselves, up in arms over the decision made by the DOC committee. They feel the review was “fraught with inappropriate involvement of the GPS manufacturers, lax controls, obvious bias, lack of transparency, and unexplained delays.” They go on to state that their own tests prove their solution for the interference problem, an add-on filter for the GPS device itself, “works flawlessly.” The National Association of Wheat Growers points out in numerous letters written to the FCC an agreement must be reached which deals with the interference problem, filter or no filter. If a filter is required, they feel farmers shouldn’t have to worry about shelling out their own money, but rather LightSquared should foot the bill.

The Coalition to Save Our GPS weighs in: “LightSquared has been afforded every possible opportunity to make its technical case and has failed to demonstrate that it can avoid interference to many critical GPS-based activities…At this point, there is no evidence that any further modifications to its proposal would yield a different conclusion.” One thing is quite certain as the war wages on: if LightSquared is granted the ability to take over that band of the spectrum and devices all over the world that rely on accurate GPS location begin malfunctioning, it could prove catastrophic. Agriculture is such a small piece of the larger picture that makes up the GPS device-driven world we live in today, as so many people in so many different industries rely on the technology on a daily basis. Will this decision affect you in your daily life? Share with us how this decision could affect your life by commenting below. Keep checking in here at RMT for more on this battle for broadband.

LightSquared Calls Foul Play in GPS Interference Testing

Marisa O'Connor — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:56:06 +0000

LightSquared has been fighting a losing battle with the GPS tracking industry. The company has owned a wireless spectrum of space since 1989, with plans to provide a powerful wireless internet service. The problem is that the spectrum is too close for comfort to the spectrum used by GPS satellites. The FCC will only allow LightSquared’s development to move forward if they can prove that their satellites will not interfere with GPS tracking devices. After months of testing, the FCC is still denying LightSquared permission, due to signal interference issues. Now, LightSquared claims that the tests were rigged.

“The test parameters were chosen for failure,” said Ed Thomas, a paid consultant and former chief engineer at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). “They used an arbitrary figure to determine failure, which has no effect on performance. And they were allowed to select their own devices to test, some of which are not even sold commercially. The whole thing looks like a college student conducting an experiment for school who draws the curve in before making measurements.”

“When I worked at the FCC, the GPS industry did the exact same thing to ultra-wideband,” Thomas continues. “They misrepresent everything, saying that planes would fall out of the sky. The fundamental difference between then and now is that the government wanted to use ultra-wideband. So they had an interest to get it approved.”

According to the FCC, the basic problem lies with the sensitivity of GPS tracking devices. GPS signals are significantly less powerful than the broadband signals, disrupting the GPS receivers. GPS technology has permeated our modern culture in so many ways. Signal interference could even mean life or death, if it affects an emergency response team. As much as LightSquared might want to dismiss the FCC’s concerns, it is not something that should be taken lightly.

LightSquared Wins Additional Month to Get Green Light From FCC

Khristen Foss — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:50:25 +0000

LightSquared, looking to become a national LTE data service provider by using Sprint’s Network Vision infrastructure already in place, has been granted extra time to win over the FCC by Sprint itself. Partnering with Sprint, rather than building their own network, will save LightSquared approximately $13 billion in costs. They are looking to use what is called the “L band,” which happens to be next to the band used by GPS satellites. The problem is that certain GPS devices, in attempts to lock onto a satellite to gather location data, scan multiple frequencies rather than just their assigned band. Because the LTE network is much more powerful than the measly GPS device, interference to the GPS device is an obstacle.

“[GPS vendors] are asserting the right to be able to continue to build these grossly inefficient receivers forever,” said LightSquared’s Jeff Carlisle. LightSquared is attempting to get the FCC to state that these GPS devices shouldn’t be granted interference protection when they are in LightSquared’s band.

Sprint’s deadline change comes after December 31, the day the initial 15-year partnership agreement drafted in July was set to expire. Sprint, in the agreement, offers to host LightSquared’s band on its own Network Vision network for $9 billion and the use of a bit of LightSquared’s space. Sprint has said they still plan on implementing their Network Vision plan whether or not they can reach an agreement with LightSquared, which is simply to grow their network. They plan on reaching 120 million US customers by the end of 2012, and 250 million at the end of 2013. They are giving LightSquared until the 30^th of January to impress the FCC.

The FCC is conducting interference tests and complaints keep coming in from GPS device vendors, making it unlikely LightSquared will win. Some experts, like Roger Entner of Recon Analytics, feel that the only way the FCC will approve their plan is if they change everything, which has them starting from Point A all over again. That will make it quite difficult to meet the January 30^th deadline.

There is still hope Sprint will extend the deadline in the event an agreement is not reached by the current deadline. If not, it won’t hurt Sprint’s feelings in the slightest, as they intend on sticking with growing Network Vision regardless of the outcome. LightSquared isn’t big in the financial picture of growing Sprint’s network, so postponing the agreement won’t affect them at all. “It doesn’t cost them anything to extend the deal with LightSquared,” Entner said.

FCC: All Mobile Phones Must Have GPS by 2018

Admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:00:30 +0000

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that landlines are becoming obsolete technology. An increasing number of households have disconnected their landline phones, because many residents already have mobile phones with signals strong enough to work inside their homes. To the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this trend poses a potential problem for emergency response teams. Currently, when a 911 call is placed from a landline, the emergency dispatcher automatically receives the caller’s address, which helps them respond quicker. This is especially important in cases where the emergency prevents the caller from being able to tell the dispatcher his or her location.

The beauty of the landline is that it is attached to a specific location, whereas mobile phones are, well, mobile. The FCC’s solution is to require that all mobile phones are equipped with GPS tracking technology by 2018. When a 911 call is placed from a GPS-equipped phone, dispatchers can easily access the GPS tracking information and respond accordingly. The plan was established in September 2010, giving cell phone providers an eight-year period to make these changes.

The FCC expects implementing GPS tracking to all phones will not be very difficult or expensive for providers. In fact, most 2G and 3G mobile phones “shipped by manufactures were equipped with GPS-chips. By the end of the eight-year implementation period, network-based carriers will likely have complied with their location accuracy benchmarks by ‘blending in’ such location-capable handsets,” said the FCC.

In order to meet the FCC’s requirements, 85 percent of a company’s users are required to have GPS-equipped mobile phones. According to the FCC, by 2018 “the public safety community, wireless carriers, location technology vendors and other stakeholders will have a significantly better understanding of how much time network-based carriers will need.” Along with GPS tracking, the FCC is also in the works to require emergency response teams to accept text messages, videos and photos from mobile phones in the event of an emergency.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

FCC Protects GPS Signal from Broadband Interference

Admin — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:28:24 +0000

LightSquared, a Reston, VA based wireless broadband company, is in the process of finding a way to launch their services, while not stepping on the toes of established GPS signals. The concern is that the wireless signals produced by LightSquared’s satellite and radio frequencies are much stronger than GPS signals. After some preliminary testing, it was determined by the FCC that LightSquared’s current proposed hybrid satellite/terrestrial broadband wireless service causes too much GPS signal interference.

Julius Genachowski, the FCC’s chairman, stressed the importance of protecting the integrity of GPS signals, and that he would not allow LightSquared, or any other company to interfere with the services provided by GPS. As it stands, LightSquared’s current proposal interfered with approximately 500 million GPS enabled devices, preventing them from operating properly. These devices range from clock synchronization and weather forecasting, to emergency response services and airplane tracking. GPS technology has permeated many aspects of modern society, and the FCC recognizes how devastating interference could potentially be.

According to Genachowski, the FCC is hoping for a solution that would allow both services to exist without interfering with each other. LightSquared has already submitted a modified proposal, which would use spectrums further away from the GPS signals. However, the FCC is hoping to avoid designating large portions of unused spectrum as a boundary between the services. President Obama, along with the country’s four primary wireless providers, agree that more of the wireless spectrum should be used to speed up internet service around the country, provide jobs, innovation and economic growth.

There has been no timetable set for resolution of this issue. The FCC hopes to find a way to allow LightSquared to provide cost-effective, high speed internet across the country. As of this moment, addressing the interference is a higher priority.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor

LightSquared Claims it Will Not Interfere With GPS

Admin — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:00:50 +0000

LightSquared, a wireless network service in America, recently sent a letter to the FCC claiming that its GPS service will not interfere with GPS service, although it will be using similar spectrum bands as the GPS tracking satellite system uses (2 GHz spectrum bands).

In the letter to the FCC, LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja asserted that LightSquared would work with the FCC in order to make sure that the technology does not interfere with the GPS tracking system.

“LightSquared believes the Commission can create a model of responsible spectrum management that will facilitate the prompt deployment of LightSquared’s terrestrial broadband services to the American public while doing its part in protecting the full value of GPS,” Ahuja wrote to the FCC.

LightSquared plans to provide a LTE wireless network that does not utilize GPS tracking satellites by 2015. This network would, in a sense, compete with the GPS system, and would be a private solution to an otherwise entirely governmental program: navigation.

Once the LTE (4G) network is complete, LightSquared intends to sell its services to corporations interested in its wireless technology systems. Nokia Siemens is reportedly interested in its network. If LightSquare is to succeed, however, it must assuage the anxieties of the FCC, which controls the use of the broadcast spectrum that GPS tracking satellites use to communicate.

In particular, with reference to the concerns about LightSquared using the 2 GHz spectrum, some have expressed concern that the LTE system implemented by LightSquared will interfere with 911 calls. If 911 operators experience any interference of the GPS signal, emergency response can be delayed.

Article Written by Greg Minton

RMT Customers Unaffected by Switch to Digital

RMT GPS News — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:32:48 +0000

Perhaps while you were out celebrating Presidents’ Day on Monday, you attempted to use an old cell phone or access the OnStar system in your vehicle only to find that it didn’t work. Did you wonder why, or did you just chalk it up to the fact that technology just isnt’perfect?

There is a very good explanation as to why those devices and others that are still using an analog network didn’t function properly: the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) told carriers they could give analog networks the boot to make way for more and more digital services. If you have been using a cell phone or tracking system that is on an analog network, you probably realized that you were left out in the cold, as Monday was the last day to use many of these analog networks.

You’ve probably heard a lot about how people with older television sets will not be able to use those sets anymore (at least not without a converter) after the conversion to digital next year. But you may not have realized that the same measures that affect the way we watch television, also make a difference for other modes of communication.

Cell phone service providers have spent years trying to get customers to leave analog cell phones behind.

The good news for customers of Rocky Mountain Tracking is that they did not and will not experience an interruption in service because of the big switch to digital. RMT doesn’t sell analog devices, but you can be assured that if we did, we certainly would not have left our customers hanging. We look for and evaluate the latest tracking technology to keep our customers in the know. You don’t want to hear that your packages cannot be located and we wouldn’t let that happen.