Senate Amendment Takes on LightSquared Issue

An amendment introduced Wednesday by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., would prevent the FCC from using any appropriated funds to allow LightSquared to begin terrestrial service. The amendment would be attached to the Financial Services and Government Affairs Appropriations Bill which is before the Senate. The amendment is similar to an amendment to a companion bill introduced in the House of Representatives earlier this year (CD June 24 p1).

"There is too much at stake in interfering with a tool we all use, and on which our public safety and national security depend so heavily,” said Roberts. “The FCC must be involved in this process and the commissioners must require an objective demonstration of non-interference before LightSquared’s system gets the go-ahead. GPS is too important for any interference to be tolerated.” Roberts has shown interest in the issue before, having sent a “Dear colleague” letter to the rest of the Senate asking for support in pushing the agency to more closely oversee LightSquared’s GPS interference testing (CD April 18 p3).

The Coalition to Save Our GPS pointed to the legislation as recognition that LightSquared could significantly damage GPS services. The Coalition is glad Roberts is working “to help ensure that the viability of GPS is not compromised by LightSquared’s plans,” it said. LightSquared said the amendment doesn’t do anything new in the debate over LightSquared and GPS. “While we appreciate Senator Roberts’ interest in this issue, we believe his legislative proposal is unnecessary and redundant because the FCC has stated affirmatively that the FCC will not issue a decision on this matter until the GPS interference issue is resolved.”

LightSquared also took issue with some of the assertions in Roberts’ statement. “The claim that the waiver changed the number of towers or power levels of LightSquared’s network is a fiction made necessary by the GPS industry’s lobbying strategy,” said LightSquared, referring to the FCC waiver that would allow LightSquared to use its spectrum terrestrially. “LightSquared challenges the GPS manufacturers to point to the language in the waiver which authorized LightSquared to build more towers or operate them at a higher power.”

Meanwhile, a Tuesday meeting (CD Nov 16 p16) between the staffs of Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va, was mostly an information gathering session, said a Grassley aide. Grassley has threatened to block FCC commissioner nominees Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai unless the agency produces the requested communications between the FCC, the White House and LightSquared. Rockefeller’s staff wanted to know “what the investigative process has been and where they are now,” said the staffer. It seems unlikely that Grassley would be talked out of the hold without the agency giving up those documents, said the staffer. “When [Grassley] places a hold, he does it for very specific reason and takes it pretty seriously.” The odds of talking him out of a nominee hold are “pretty small, generally speaking,” said the aide.