LightSquared/GPS Interference Saga: Wheels Grinding
April 5, 2011 By: Alan CameronSlow but Exceedingly Fine
There has been plenty of activity during the last few weeks, some of it behind doors as the Technical Working Group prepares for testing and perhaps conducts initial trials, and some of it out in the open as more and more parties weigh in with filings to the FCC on the LightSquared controversy. The deputy secretaries of Defense and Transportation both wrote strongly worded letters advocating for GPS and against the powerful LightSquared terrestrial ancillary transmitters. The problem is, both depsecs wrote similar letters in January, and failed to dissuade the FCC chairman from granting the LightSquared waiver. At this point, it appears impossible to predict which of either politics or science will trump the other; the historical record, however, does not favor the latter.
Among developments in this case:
In early March, Trimble Vice President and General Counsel Jim Kirkland testified before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science of the House Appropriations Committee on behalf of the Coalition to Save Our GPS.
"Initial technical analyses have shown that the distant, low-powered GPS signals would receive substantial interference from high-powered, close-proximity transmissions from a network of ground stations. The consequences of disruption to the GPS signals are far reaching, likely to affect large portions of the population and the federal government."
What influence the U.S. House of Representatives, whether in committee or as a whole, may bring to bear on this process — even if it were convinced to swing into action — is far from clear. The testimony and subsequent action, if any, may amount to no more than saber-rattling. The Administration holds the strings at this point.
Financial analysts who follow the wireless industry detect a chilling effect from the brouhaha on LightSquared’s prospects to raise desperately needed cash infusions from additional investment in its parent hedge fund, and in deals it seeks to sign with wireless carriers and/or manufacturers. The GPS interference issue will be critical to LightSquared's success, according to Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates. "If there's any significant amount of interference, the government's going to get involved and shut them down. Any time you've got a potential risk with a service that's that popular, then you've got a really serious issue."
Deals with reseller partners such as Open Range – recently inked by the company -- will also be critical for LightSquared, which is slated to compete against cellular long-term evolution (LTE) services from Verizon, AT&T and other fast networks at Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA. "LightSquared needs to go out and get a bunch of licensees so they can start making some money," Gold added.
The Technical Working Group in charge of testing has 34 members, many from the GPS community, both industry and governmental. The group is in the midst of designing tests to determine whether the powerful terrestrial transmitters that will form part of LightSquared’s LTE network could affect the accuracy, coverage and continuous availability of GPS, as well as other factors. Tests will take place both in labs and in the field. Some potential effects on GPS, such as the aggregate interference to GPS avionics required for in-flight navigation, can only be determined by analysis, not testing, the group’s initial report on March 15 noted.
Testing will take place in April and May in preparation for the final report on June 15.
The U.S. Air Force, steward of the GPS program, has found its voice at last.
Lt. Gen. Michael Basla, vice commander of Air Force Space Command, said that the commercial broadband Internet system proposed by LightSquared could disable current GPS receivers across the country — many of them used by the military and public security forces.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn and Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari re-stated their concerns, using stronger words than those they employed in January, in a March 25 letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski. Genachowski, by the way, played a key role in the 2008 Obama Presidential campaign, and was a subsequent appointment by the President to his current post – according to some, a personal selection by the recipient.
A political flashback: In March of 2010, under Genachowski's chairmanship, called for 500 MHz of spectrum to be found and made newly available, as part of the National Broadband Plan — fulfillment of sorts of a campaign promise by the President. In June 2010, the President Obama further directed all executive branches of government to do just that: find it! This directive included the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, which might otherwise have resisted attempts to enter what they consider their spectrum territory; they were firmly told to assist. In February 2011 — after the FCC granted the conditional waiver to LightSquared for ancillary terrestrial transmitters — the President reiterated his commitment.
Back to the present: The Lynn/Porcari expresses concern with the working-group process, arguing the Defense and Transportation departments, as the stewards of GPS, were “not sufficiently included in the development of the LightSquared initial work plan and its key milestones.” The two secretaries were undoubtedly also miffed that Genachowski dismissed their earlier missives like so much chaff.
“The commission’s determination that consensus on the [working group] recommendations is not required does not provide guidance regarding how differing technical viewpoints from federal and private sector manufacturers and users will be reconciled,” Lynn and Porcari go on to intone. They “strongly advise that a comprehensive study of all the potential interference to GPS is needed.”
A further problem signaled by the depsecs is that there is no requirement for consensus among the various participants regarding the plan for evaluating interference. "DOD and DOT need to understand how differing conclusions and recommendations developed during the ... process that could affect national security and transportation safety will be addressed."
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) charged that the FCC failed to balance a satellite network operator’s claim of public interest against the “massive problems” that expansion of its network could cause for the aviation industry and other GPS users. AOPA, a charter member of the multi-industry Save Our GPS coalition, issued its own letter to the FCC, urging the commission to reverse the waiver it granted. Fat chance. More saber-rattling.
In Good Company. The Pentagon and GPS satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin have complained that they were not given sufficient notice about the LightSquared request for waiver. Lockheed also asks the FCC to vacate its order.
By granting the waiver, AOPA said, the FCC failed to give proper weight to the “substantial evidence” in the record that the network of 40,000 ground transmitter could cause create “massive problems, . . . for the aviation industry.” The AOPA letter does point out for the record, if any record-pointing were needed, that the FCC waiver put LightSquared itself squarely in a position to determine whether the trouble it was causing was significant — or not. “Such an investigation should have been headed by the [FCC International] Bureau or a neutral third party, not LightSquared,” wrote and AOPA vice president.
The General Aviation Manufacturers (GAMA) welcomed the active engagement of DepSecs Lynn and Porcari in the LightSquared proceedings. “We are very appreciative that Secretary LaHood has taken up this issue in partnership with Defense Secretary [Robert] Gates, since the consequences of disruption to GPS signals are far reaching,” said Gary Kelley, vice president of marketing and company officer for Garmin International and a member of the GPS coalition, in a GAMA news release.
Going a bit on the defensive, FCC spokesman Robert Kenny claimed in an e-mail message that members of the GPS community have told the FCC that they are satisfied with the LightSquared review process so far. Indeed, everybody has been on their best behavior. "LightSquared will not be permitted to move forward with service under the waiver until potential interference issues are addressed," Kenny asserted.
LightSquared in turn said it was sensitive to concerns about interference and would not launch its network until the review was completed to the FCC's satisfaction. "As part of this effort, we are cooperating with federal agencies, the GPS community and GPS engineers in a transparent and technically accurate testing program to address issues relating to GPS receivers," executive vice president for regulatory affairs Jeff Carlisle said in a prepared statement. "We are also providing equipment and personnel to the U.S. Air Force's Space Command, NASA, and other federal agencies to help them begin their own testing processes."
By way of background, LightSquared is a mobile satellite service (MSS) provider with two satellites over North America. It operates in the 1.5-1.6GHz zone, in the L-Band. In late November of 2010, LightSquared applied to the FCC for added leeway to transmit satellite broadband signals to its ancillary terrestrial component, or ground level mobile stations. LightSquared plans to thus reuse its space frequencies to offer wholesale broadband via ground transmitters. The FCC granted a waiver for this, stating it would would "improve the ability of small, rural wireless providers to utilize ubiquitous MSS spectrum and the MSS/ATC device marketplace."
LightSquared's L Band frequencies will also broadcast close to the GPS bands, "one billion or more times more powerful than GPS signals as received on earth," according to the Save GPS Coalition.
The FCC's January order granting the waiver does signal its awareness that interference could be an issue. Thus the Technical Working Group, co-chaired by LightSquared and the U.S. GPS Industry Council, with final report due on June 15. "Addressing the interference concerns regarding GPS must be completed to the Commission's satisfaction before LightSquared commences offering commercial service pursuant to this waiver on its L-band MSS frequencies."
"This is something that we’ll be looking at closely as part of our comprehensive review and efforts to identify problems and come up with solutions," the Commission's Rob Kenny adds.
John Deere and Co., very active in the precision agriculture segment, told the FCC that LightSquared’s network could cause "devastating interference" to cultivation systems now in the field, ones that reduce the cost of food production in the United States by as much as $3 billion a year, according to the company.
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to build its Next-Generation Air Transportation System around GPS, which will provide highly precise signals needed for en route navigation and landings. Federal representatives on the working group include: Michael Biggs, FAA senior engineer; Air Force Capt. Anil Hariharan, chief of GPS spectrum engineering in the joint service GPS Directorate; Fred Moorefield, technical director and director of strategic planning in the Air Force Spectrum Management Office; and Brian Ramsay, spectrum policy specialist in the NASA Space Communications and Navigation Program Office. Commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing is also represented on the Technical Working Group.
LightSquared senior VP Frank Boulben said that the company had more than 60 irons in the fire, potential deals with that many companies regarding leased access to the LightSquared network. Boulben characterized the companies as either carriers that lack coverage or capacity to power their own 4G services, or and non-wireless entities such as retailers, device manufacturers, ISPs, cable and wireline providers who wished to add high-speed mobile broadband to their portfolio.
UPCOMING WEBINAR
LightSquared and GPS: Our Story So Far
A panel of experts will discuss findings contained in the latest status report by the FCC Technical Working Group on LightSquared/GPS Interference Issue. The group is scheduled to file its second report to the Federal Communications Commission on April 15, so we should have the freshest updates available! Webinar speakers will be announced at a later date; we plan on representation from the high-precision sector, aviation, consumer handsets, and timing infrastructure.
What you will learn:
- What results have been found so far in interference testing between LightSquared terrestrial transmitters in the L Band 1 (1525 MHz–1559 MHz) immediately adjacent to the band (1559–1610 MHz) where GPS and other GNSSs operate.
- What actions are recommended to concerned members of the GNSS community.
Moderator: Alan Cameron, Editor-In-Chief, GPS World
Panelists:
Captain Joe Burns, Managing Director of Technology and Flight Test, United Airlines
Eric Gakstatter, Editor, Geospatial Solutions and GPS World's Survey Scene Newsletters
Bill Klepczynski, Owner, Global Timing Services, LLC.
Logan Scott, Principal, Logan Scott Consulting
Date: April 21, 2011. To register (free) go to www.gpsworld.com/webinar
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