WCA Sees Interference Threat From Globalstar Wi-Fi Proposal for 2.4 GHz Band

The FCC should refrain from approving Globalstar’s use of the 2.4 GHz band to deploy a private Wi-Fi channel until hard questions are answered about how the satellite operator will protect broadband radio service and educational broadband service deployments in the spectrum from interference, said the Wireless Communications Association in a letter posted Monday in docket 13-213. WCA noted it has long raised objections. Meanwhile, Globalstar representatives met with FCC officials, including Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman, to discuss recent tests of its terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) in a school. Aggregate throughput for Wi-Fi users there increased by more than 90 percent, Globalstar said. “The benefits of TLPS will be particularly important in America’s schools and libraries, high-density environments with substantial wireless broadband usage that will only increase over time,” Globalstar said in the same docket.