Airlines join opposition to LightSquared project
Airlines for America claims the LTE system would have "ruinous effects" on navigation, while start-up calls for new GPS standards
Published: 8 February, 2012
READ MORE: Spectrum | US | LightSquared | Infrastructure | Regulator | GPS | Satellite | LTE
Yet another group has come out against LightSquared's beleaguered plan to build a wholesale LTE network in mobile satellite spectrum. Earlier this year a group of US agencies concluded the carrier would never be able to make modifications which would make its LTE signals safe for GPS. The FCC is still considering its final verdict, but another group has weighed in against the Harbinger Capital-backed project, in the shape of an airline trade group, Airlines for America.
Its SVP, Thomas Hendricks, said in written testimony to a US House hearing that LightSquared would have "ruinous effects" on aviation navigation systems because of signal interference and added: "This matter needs to be put to rest." The LTE operator retorted that the organization was relying too much on information supplied by makers of GPS equipment. "Their information is provided by the GPS industry," spokesperson Terry Neal told Bloomberg. "It would not be surprising since the government relied on the GPS industry to devise the tests and conduct them in secret using a standard that does not reflect real life conditions."
Airlines for America includes Delta, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways and United Continental among its membership. It had contributed to a hearing called by the aviation sub-committee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Earlier in the week, LightSquared had gone on the offensive, calling on the FCC to develop
receiver reliability standards for unlicensed GPS devices, to ensure they can cope with licensed users in neighboring bands. This would create a level playing field across the entire US spectrum, it argued. It has always argued that the interference GPS receivers have experienced in tests of its would-be LTE system have resulted from "an industry decision to design and sell poorly filtered devices that purposefully depend on spectrum licensed to LightSquared for accuracy", particularly the 1559-1610MHz band. But even if there is merit in its claims that GPS device manufacturers like Garmin and Trimble Navigation designed their receivers carelessly, so that they reach outside their own bands, it would take many years to agree new industry standards - time LightSquared, and US consumers, do not have to wait for an alternative and viable 4G competitor.
The 4G start-up risks running out of money and losing its network and spectrum sharing deal with Sprint, even though the latter recently gave it an extension until mid-March to reach agreement with the FCC. But Harbinger Capital Partners has reported a 47% drop in its biggest fund, thanks mainly to a writedown in the company's investment in LightSquared. The losses in 2011 reportedly saw Harbinger's assets drop to $4bn at the end of 2011, from a high of $26bn in 2008. Harbinger has invested $3bn in LightSquared, and Harbinger cut the value of its investment in LightSquared by nearly 60%.
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