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LightSquared pleads with FCC for stricter GPS standards

LightSquared pleads with FCC for stricter GPS standards

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LightSquared has filed a letter with the FCC asking the regulator to set standards for GPS devices to prevent interference with its wireless network.

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Cell Tower (Shutter Stock)
Cell Tower (Shutter Stock)

LightSquared has filed a letter with the FCC asking the regulator to set tighter standards for GPS devices to prevent interference with other wireless services. The would-be LTE network wants the Commission to regulate the market in order to prevent manufacturers from making navigation devices that use frequencies outside of their allocated bands. It believes that such devices are the cause of the interference issues that have led to a government committee unanimously agreeing that LightSquared's LTE network interferes with GPS devices.

In the document, LightSquared notes that GPS manufacturers "not only fail to reasonably protect themselves from adjacent band interference, but they exacerbate the problem with a design that purposely relies on unlicensed spectrum in the adjacent band." It argues that the manufacturers have no right to interference protection from its network since they have not licensed use of the spectrum LightSquared occupies.

The Save Our GPS coalition (which consists of major players in the navigation industry) issued a statement in response to the filing, claiming that "[LightSquared's] suggestion that GPS manufacturers should have designed receivers to accommodate a prohibited use is simply self-serving nonsense." Whether successful or not, this latest plea to the FCC appears to be the company's last hope of salvaging its multibillion-dollar deal with Sprint, after the cellular network gave LightSquared until mid-March to get FCC approval.