FCC vows to protect GPS

[jruhnke]

From http://broadcastengineering.com/news/fc ... -08152011/ :

The FCC vowed last week to protect GPS technology over the business interests of a company called LightSquared, based in Reston, VA.

The FCC’s chairman Julius Genachowski said the commission is not going to let LightSquared’s proposed hybrid satellite/terrestrial broadband wireless service interfere with the functioning of GPS technology.

Not that everything's just unicorns and rainbows...LightSquared isn't giving up, and the FCC goes on to say that they don't want unused RF spectrum (read: expect further encroachment on the GPS spectrum in the future), but there are ways to use the adjacent spectrum that won't necessarily compromise GPS signals, or at least won't necessarily compromise them over wide areas. I suspect part of the long-term solution might also be for GPS manufacturers to implement LS's recommendation to better filter out interference from adjacent spectrum.

At any rate, it sounds like the cacophony of outraged GPS users (and manufacturers) has finally gotten the FCC's attention. I don't think LS has many friends right now...

 

[JimC]

 

[jruhnke]

 

[JimC]

 

[Ed Dartford]

 

[bartmc]

 

[JimC]

 

[jruhnke]

 

[Ed Dartford]

 

[jruhnke]