LightSquared proposes PCTel antenna as GPS interference fix
From DSL Reports: After both GPS-related industries and government agencies highlighted that LightSquared’s planned LTE/Satellite hybrid network interfered with GPS signals, the company in June LightSquared filed a revised plan with the FCC. The plan involved utilizing a 10 MHz swath of L-band spectrum in the lower portion of the company’s spectrum assets to avoid interference.
LightSquared recently proposed an additional fix using technology they’re developing with a company named Javad. However, the cost of the fix was estimated at around $400 million, and LightSquared expected the GPS industry to pay it .
This morning LightSquared announced that the company had another fix in the form of a new antenna by a company named PCTEL. According to LightSquared, the new antenna is headed for testing in New Jersey at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, and is another option that high-precision users can install (at their own expense) to avoid interference concerns.
“Despite claims by some GPS device manufacturers that an interference solution would take ten years and billions of dollars to develop, the private marketplace has continued to develop inexpensive solutions using existing technology in just a matter of weeks,” the company’s announcement read. LightSquared says the fixes are all set to be tested by the NTIA and the FCC within the next few weeks, the latter LightSquared has promised to sue if they backtrack on plans to grease the regulatory rails to help LightSquared to market.