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Discussions continue on GPS issues
Farm group representatives have met once again with officials of LightSquared to discuss ongoing concerns the company’s planned 4G wireless broadband network will cause destructive interference with existing GPS receivers.
Ag officials say LightSquared’s proposal for 40-thousand new cellphone towers in rural areas would push farmers’ GPS systems further down the spectrum band, compromising movements across their fields. LightSquared’s position is that GPS band users are extending into the band licensed to LightSquared.
During an appearance in Iowa this week, the administrator of the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, Jonathan Adelstein, said the issue is being discussed at the highest levels of the federal government. He says the problem is a shortage of bandwith.
“You can see what’s happening with iPhones and the explosion of uses on video and wireless, that in the future we’re not going to have enough spectrum if we don’t do something to get more available out there,” says Adelstein. “So how do you not interfere with current uses while getting more broadband out is an issue that both the FCC and the Department of Commerce are now struggling with.”
Adelstein says the broad spectrum used by GPS precision farming does present challenges.
“They use a particularly wide swath of spectrum in order to be very precise—almost to the inch—and that is raising concerns that as a new system is coming in on the same spectrum, that there could be harmful interference,” he says.
The ag groups have apparently been able to wrestle some concessions from LightSquared. The company has proposed that, in order to mitigate interference issues, it will start its operations using the spectrum farthest away from GPS. It is also offering to fund research and development for resilient receivers.
The FCC will ultimately decide whether LightSquared can proceed with its broadband plan. The agency is expected to issue a report later this summer.
AUDIO: Jonathan Adelstein (1:47 MP3)
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