LightSquared: GPS testing process was ‘bogus’
From DSL Reports: LightSquared has been under fire for the fact that tests have shown that their proposed hybrid LTE/satellite network interferes with GPS signals. The company’s problems were compounded this week by a new report by a Federal Advisory board that there is “no practical solutions or mitigations” that will solve the GPS issues. In response, LightSquared held a press conference in which they effectively argued the entire testing process was rigged.
Edmond Thomas, formerly the chief engineer at the FCC who is now a paid consultant for LightSquared, said that the testing conducted by Air Force Space Command on behalf of the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Executive Committee (PNT EXCOM) was conducted in total secrecy, involved selectively choosing discontinued hardware with limited to no filters for testing, and that the process selected an “extremely conservative definition of failure” unrelated to real world GPS performance intended to increase failure rates.