News

New developments in LightSquared-GPS saga

A U.S. government test shows the proposed LightSquared wireless service caused interference to 75 percent of GPS receivers.

That’s according to a Farm Equipment magazine report.

The government test involved GPS used for automobiles and boats.  The results of the test will be presented to government officials at a meeting in Washington this Wednesday.

A government test on high-precision receivers, including those used in farm equipment and scientific instruments, will take place next year.

Lightsquared has proposed offering high-speed mobile Internet service to as many as 260 million people using 40-thousand base stations.  The service would operate on airwaves formerly reserved mainly for satellites, and near those used by GPS devices.

Makers of GPS devices say the service will disrupt navigation, including agricultural uses.   U.S. regulators are withholding approval of LightSquared’s plan as they check on claims of interference.

Meanwhile, LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja wants to know how the media got a hold of that government report before its official release.  Bloomberg broke the story Friday and Ahuja wants a formal investigation.  Ahuja contends the report is flawed in that the testing assumed LightSquared would operate the network at 32-times more power than it actually will. 

Last Thursday LightSquared released what it called “it’s most concrete claims so far that its LTE network will not interfere with GPS services across the U.S.”  The company says the extensive tests on devices from three GPS vendors indicated the company was “well on its way to demonstrating that GPS interference concerns have been resolved.”

Adding to the situation—hedge-fund manager Philip Falcone is facing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s office for possible preferential treatment given some investors.  Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners has invested billions in LightSquared. 

Brownfield’s Bob Meyer contributed to this story.