NTIA Gives Conditional Support to LightSquared Plan

LightSquared’s plans for mobile satellite services/ancillary terrestrial component spectrum is a cause for concern by government users but doesn’t face insurmountable problems, NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling wrote FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a letter Wednesday. Strickling said LightSquared’s proposed use of terrestrial spectrum “would create a new interference environment and it is incumbent on the FCC to deal with the resulting interference issues before any interference occurs.” LightSquared is seeking FCC approval for a business plan that could allow for purely terrestrial use of spectrum now allocated for MSS use (CD Nov 29 p2). The FCC asked for the NTIA’s thoughts about giving LightSquared a waiver of MSS/ATC rules, the letter said. LightSquared’s request amounts to a reallocation of spectrum and should receive much more testing before the FCC approves it, according to GPS interests, who say approval of LightSquared’s application threatens serious spectrum interference.

Strickling promised the NTIA’s support for a “multi-party effort” to “ensure that the issues can be brought to closure as quickly as possible.” The concern is that LightSquared’s terrestrial service using 1525-1559 and 1625.50-1660.50 MHz would interfere with the radionavigation band at 1559-1610 MHz used by federal and non-federal users for GPS and global navigation satellite system services. The NTIA said it will work with LightSquared to deal with possible effects on GPS timing receivers used for synchronization. The NTIA said the Defense Department also raised the agency worries of possible interference. DOD is working with LightSquared to “ensure the successful co-existence” between ATC operations and commercial earth stations used by the Pentagon, the NTIA said.

The band’s users say LightSquared’s new plans for the surrounding bands need far more analysis on the effect on other bands before they're approved. “This FCC applicant effectively is seeking a primary spectrum allocation for its terrestrial service that results in a reallocation of spectrum use and the opposite of the originally proposed MSS/ATC operations,” the GPS Industry Council said in a letter to its members. The council attached a proposal it had filed at the FCC for a study of interference and a delay in final action on the application until the analysis is completed.

Other industry users have voiced concern. “The FCC is rushing to judgment to grant waiver and there are no studies that show it is not going to interfere,” said Kris Hutchinson, president of Aviation Spectrum Resources, which represents spectrum interests of airlines and commercial cargo carries. “Such a widespread deployment in the band could certainly impact GPS utilization, in the auto industry and airborne.” The “entire GPS industry in the U.S. could be jeopardized,” he said.

LightSquared submitted to the NTIA on Thursday a plan to protect GPS spectrum, the NTIA’s letter said. LightSquared would commit $20 million to testing and would analyze the issue of interference to GPS devices, the plan said. Strickling references the plan in his letter to the FCC, but it’s unclear if LightSquared’s full proposal is being used. Asked about GPS concerns, LightSquared said it “is committed to seamlessly integrating our network into the current wireless environment which includes GPS. We remain committed to continuing to work to ensure that there is no harmful interference to GPS devices.”