Senators ask for delay in LightSquared network until GPS issues can be resolved

From Wireless Week: In an open letter, Sens. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) asked their fellow senators to call on the FCC to ensure that GPS service is not compromised in any way by LightSquared’s planned hybrid-satellite LTE network.

LightSquared plans to deploy its services on spectrum directly adjacent to GPS bands. The company has developed filters to stop its signal from bleeding into GPS service, but major GPS stakeholders, including the Defense Department, fear that widespread GPS “dead zones” are inevitable if LightSquared’s network goes live.

“The full Commission must be involved and require LightSquared to objectively demonstrate non-interference as a condition prior to any operation of its proposed service,” the senators wrote. “Anything less is an unacceptable risk to public safety.” Read the entire article here.