LightSquared might take legal action over GPS
LightSquared may take legal action if it is denied permission to build its planned LTE network because of concerns over interference between that network and GPS, an executive said Monday.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has said it won't allow LightSquared to operate the LTE network unless it can prove the interference problems have been solved. Many vendors and users of GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment have lobbied the FCC to keep LightSquared from running its LTE network in its assigned spectrum, which is close to that used by GPS devices.
GPS backers say such a network would degrade or block GPS service because its signals would be much more powerful than the satellite transmissions used for GPS. LightSquared says the problem was caused by GPS vendors that knew as far back as 2001 that there would be a terrestrial mobile network operating in frequencies their devices used.
