[BC] Lightsquared vs FCC

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

I first reported about the light-squared fiasco early last year.

I am pleasantly surprised with the new ruling. However, this will not be the last we here of this. Light Squared is hosting a media blast that, amongst other things, claims that GPS receivers are using spectrum space that doesn't belong to them:

<QUOTE>
Bernie Stevens, CEO of PowerNet Global Communications, urged the FCC to grant LightSquared's Petition for Declaratory Ruling regarding GPS receivers that "squat" in spectrum not licensed to them. "Granting LightSquared's Petition would reinforce the integrity of the Commission's rules, and provide the regulatory certainty necessary for companies like PNG and LightSquared to attract investment and continue developing innovative communications solutions that truly benefit consumers... I urge the Commission to grant LightSquared's Petition on an expedited basis."

"By affirming LightSquared's rights as described in the Petition, the Commission would facilitate our ability to deliver the tangible benefits of more robust competition to consumers in the form of higher quality service, lower rates, and expanded voice and broadband service options all at a lower price point," wrote Mark Richards, Chief Information Officer of VoX Communications. "We feel that the cost savings that would absolutely be enabled by LightSquared would be passed to the American consumer."

"I urge the FCC to fully support LightSquared in offering their services, and fear for the future of the telecom industry were it not allowed to do so," wrote Robert Gaal, CEO & Co-Founder of Karma Mobility Inc.
</QUOTE>

The history of Light Squared was that they purchased a satellite up-link frequency from a defunct company. The frequency was defined to be used for satellite up-links and down-links. That's what the FCC spectrum allocations were all about...satellite communications. Even though the ERP in front of a 10 meter dish may exceed 5 kW, Light-squared had the audacity to propose using the uplink frequency and 5 kW power for omni-direction terrestrial broadcast! They hired an ex-FCC bigwig to push it through. 

Of course it is possible to design a single-frequency receiver with a narrow front-end that would allow the picowatts received from satellites, well below the noise, to operate near a 5 kW blowtorch a few MHz away. However. GPS satellites do not transmit CW dots-and-dashes. They transmit spread-spectrum encoding so that their signals may be demodulated when well bellow the noise floor. To receive and demodulate this information requires a very broadband front-end because a filter that attenuates any of the GPS signal spectrum will cause envelope-delay distortion, preventing lock-on. Additionally, unlike the satellites for which Light-Squared's uplink frequency was designed, GPS satellites are moving relative to a receiver. This produces substantial Doppler frequency shift, both above and below the nominal transmit frequencies.

Because of the tremendous investment that Light-Squared has already made, such as having the Soviet Union launch a satellite for them, they are unlikely to "go away." We will hear much more from them --I fear. Eventually, they will try to take physical laws to court.

Cheers,
Richard B. Johnson
Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "J.G. Gillivan" <cube60 at mac.com>

Might be of interest...

LightSquared suffered a possibly fatal blow today when the FCC said it would indefinitely suspend the company's effort to build a national wireless broadband network using satellite spectrum.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a Department of Commerce agency tasked with overseeing military and government spectrum use, determined that the LightSquared's interference with other devices, including GPS devices, was unavoidable.
"Based on NTIA's independent evaluation of the testing and analysis performed over the last several months, we conclude that LightSquared's proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and that there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time," the NTIA_said_in_a_letter_(PDF) to the FCC.
Based on those findings, the FCC said it would "suspend indefinitely" the startup's conditional waiver to operate. "The commission clearly stated from the outset that harmful interference to GPS would not be permitted," the FCC said. "Consequently, the commission will not lift the prohibition on LightSquared."