Wireless Carriers Disagree on LightSquared Threat
Discussions within the cellular subgroup have been some of the most complex and difficult to work through, as the larger GPS Working Group wraps up its report on interference issues, said officials involved in the discussions of whether LightSquared’s proposed terrestrial network would interfere with GPS. The full working group was required to submit its report to the FCC by the end of the day Wednesday. But in a late development, LightSquared sought a delay in the filing deadline until July 1.
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Part of the argument in the cellular subgroup pits Verizon Wireless and AT&T against Sprint Nextel. AT&T and Verizon have both raised red flags about the potential threat to their network operations, according to officials involved with the talks. Sprint, a potential business partner of LightSquared, has downplayed these concerns. The companies declined to comment.
The carriers have not been among the biggest participants in the overall report, but have been active in the cellular subgroup, said a wireless industry official. The main operational concern for AT&T and Verizon is that many celltower functions rely on a GPS clock and any interruption in GPS signals could degrade network operations.
A copy of the General Location/Navigation subgroup report obtained by Communications Daily Wednesday shows that some of the conclusions reached by the various sub groups could be highly negative for LightSquared. The team “concluded that all phases of the LightSquared deployment plan will result in widespread harmful interference to GPS signals and service and that mitigation is not possible,” the report said. The team looked at three different schemes for phasing in service proposed by LightSquared, the report said. “No stone was left unturned as the team evaluated proposals for mitigation options involving both LightSquared’s transmitters and GPS receivers,” the report said. “Several simulated filters were proposed as options for GPS receivers; however, no testing could be performed since these parts do not exist.” While limiting the effect of LightSquared signals “these simulated filters did so at the expense of increased degradation of GPS signals,” the report said.
Additional time is needed to fully consider, document and review the GPS receiver overload issue, said LightSquared. One of the main reasons for the request is that additional testing, “including alternative frequency plans to support its network roll-out, was necessary to permit a proper evaluation of various mitigation options for addressing the GPS receiver overload issue,” the filing said. That testing has been performed and is still being processed, said LightSquared. The working group itself had discussed seeking an extension, but voted unanimously against taking that step, said an active participant in the working group.
A delay could be advantageous for LightSquared for several reasons, other than the additional time to organize the report. A two-week delay for the working group filing would allow the TerreStar bankruptcy auction, which was pushed back Wednesday to June 30 (see separate story this issue), to conclude and guide some of LightSquared’s plans, said Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates. Harbinger, which owns LightSquared, has been long discussed as a potential bidder for TerreStar and its 20 MHz of S-band spectrum. If Harbinger were to win access to that spectrum, it would have a potential way to begin service outside its L-band spectrum, said Farrar. If Harbinger can’t win that spectrum, it would know it would need to throw its full weight behind a defense of the viability of the L-band spectrum. “It’s more than a convenient coincidence,” said Farrar. “It’s hard to imagine it will take an extra 2 weeks to compile the report."
In another late development, The Rural Cellular Association, sent FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski a letter Wednesday stressing the important role a fully functioning LightSquared could play in spurring wireless competition. RCA and a number of its members, including Cellular South and SI Wireless, emphasized the importance of addressing GPS issues so that LightSquared can launch.
"An environment with both GPS and nationwide wireless broadband spectrum will benefit consumers and promote competition,” said RCA President Steve Berry. “With the ever increasing threat of further consolidation in the wireless industry, especially in light of the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger, it is more important than ever to have competitive alternatives, such as a LightSquared network, that competitive carriers can partner with to provide connectivity to their customers."
Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld predicted LightSquared and the GPS industry ultimately will find a compromise. “Lightsquared folks are right about how the GPS guys knew this day would come and conveniently chose to do nothing. But in the short term it doesn’t matter, because the FCC will not allow anything to happen to GPS,” Feld said on his blog. On the other hand, “if the GPS guys get their way, it means taking another 40 MHz of prime spectrum and rendering it useless forever. That also isn’t going to happen.”