LightSquared Update - Postmortem News RoundUp - 2/21/12

Why LightSquared failed: It was science, not politics

- Ars Technica

Harbinger investors sue Falcone, Harbinger fund over LightSquared

- Total Telecom

Cornell is leading research into whether the northern lights interfere with GPS. The rocket launched Saturday in a NASA funded study. We're not going to let anything - natural or man-made interfere with our GPS!

- Denver Post

Struggling LightSquared seeks DoD spectrum swap; hedge fund investors line up to sue Falcone

- TeleGeography

LightSquared defaults on payment to spectrum owner‎

- CIO UK

Why You Should Regret LightSquared's Setbacks

- TechDirt
 

LightSquared Update - Federal Officials Conclude No Way LS Can Not Interfere with GPS - 1/13/12

Even as LightSquared this week raised the issue of a conflict of interest of a committee member (The Hill), on Friday the Federal Aviation Administration released a letter from Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari to the Commerce Department, basically saying there's no short term answer to the LightSquared issue. The money quote:

There appear to be no practical solutions or mitigations that would permit the LightSquared broadband service, as proposed, to operate in the next few years months or years without significant interference with GPS.

LIghtSquared Update - Fed Report Conclusions Released, House Bill Passes to hold Approval, More 12/15/11

An official statement on the report (not yet public) on testing of LightSquared interference leaked and reported on last week was made public on Wednesday. In short:

Government tests showed that "LightSquared signals caused harmful interference to the majority of…general purpose GPS receivers," said Anthony Russo, director of the National Coordination Office for Spaced-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing, a government and industry advisory board, in a statement late Wednesday.

- WSJ

The Dept of Defense and Dept of Transportation issued their own statement, including this text.

However, the testing did show that LightSquared signals caused harmful interference to the majority of other tested general purpose GPS receivers.  Separate analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration also found interference with a flight safety system designed to warn pilots of approaching terrain.

- press release

The testing found no interference with cell phones. The House passed a bill stating FCC could not approve LightSquared use of spectrum until the Dept of Defense cleared its concerns. 

In addition, language passed by the House in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) contains a provision that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) shall not provide final authorization for LightSquared operations until Defense Department concerns about GPS interference have been resolved. That language was authored by Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) who chairs the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces.

- PC Mag

In perhaps related news FCC chief of staff Eddie Lazarus resigns, though the sense is that had more to do with net neutrality and the recent mergers in the telcom arena.

- WaPo

In response to the leaked report info (and presumably the official statement), Javad Ashjaee, Ph.D.m CEO of Javad (the first company to offer a filter) suggested other low end GPSs would fail when near FM signals. He asked the FCC to establish guidelines for GPS receivers, including that they include details of their signal to noise ratios.

- Letter to FCC/press release

And of course, LightSquared offered its response:

While we are eager to continue to work with the FAA on addressing the one remaining issue regarding terrain avoidance systems, we profoundly disagree with the conclusions drawn with respect to general navigation devices.

 

LightSquared has had the legal and regulatory right to use its spectrum for eight years over two administrations. The testing further confirmed that the interference issues are not caused by LightSquared's spectrum, but by GPS devices looking into spectrum that is licensed to LightSquared. 

- press release

LightSquared Update - Leaked Test Results, Lawsuit Expected 12/12/11

New government tests show wireless start-up LightSquared's network could knock out a "great majority" of GPS devices, according to a congressional aide who has seen a draft government report on the tests.

Preliminary data from recent government and industry tests of LightSquared's network suggest that the start-up hasn't solved concerns that its network would knock out a large number of personal or military GPS devices, the report said, according to the aide.

The results were to be announced on Dec 14, but got out early. The laboratory testing was performed for the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Systems Engineering Forum found that 69 of 92, or 75 percent, of receivers tested “experienced harmful interference” at the equivalent of 100 meters (109 yards) from a LightSquared base station.  Martin Harriman, executive vice president at LightSquared stated via e-mail that the company is  “outraged by the illegal leak of incomplete government data. This breach attempts to draw an inaccurate conclusion to negatively influence the future of LightSquared and narrowly serve the business interests of the GPS industry.”

- Wall Street Journal

- BusinessWeek

In other news, The Hill reports:

Federal regulators notified Harbinger Capital, the primary investor in wireless firm LightSquared, that they are considering suing the hedge fund over potential violations of securities laws.

- The Hill

Wind Farm Interference with GPS in Canada Concerns Farmers

In a strange, different scale situation in Ontario somewhat akin to the US's LightSquared issue, Mapleton township councilors are making demands on those behind a proposed wind farm in the area. The proposal is for  NextEra Energy Canada’s Conestogo Wind Energy Centre Project.

When township council here considered what comments to make to the province about conditions for permitting an industrial wind farm near Arthur, councillor Neil Driscoll said turbines should be shut down immediately if they interfere with GPS users.