LightSquared, the wireless operator run by a hedge fund, has been wanting to launch their network for the past 18 months. There’s a slight problem though. The spectrum they want to use to launch said network sits way too close to the same spectrum that GPS devices use to get a satellite fix and calculate where they are on the planet. Early testing showed that GPS was effectively knocked out in anything that happened to be within 20 miles of a LightSquared cell tower, to which the company responded by saying it’s not their fault, it’s the fault of companies who built GPS devices that don’t respect the spectrum boundaries they’re supposed to be using. The ensuing back and forth between LightSquared, the FCC, and the GPS industry, has been painfully boring to watch, and now it’s about to hit a new level in terms of the media not giving a rat’s ass. The FCC, for reasons we don’t quite understand, is interested in hearing what the public has to say about LightSquared. You all have until the 27th of February to submit your thoughts.
Now let’s be honest with ourselves for a second, what exactly does the public at large know about the ramifications of GPS interference? Joe Blow wants his YouTube videos to load instantly and to not have to pay a lot to be able to watch said videos. That’s it. The experts that have been called to do testing of LightSquared’s network have all said the same thing, that LightSquared poses a threat to the way GPS as we know it today currently operates. If that’s the conclusion the professionals came to, then shouldn’t we listen to them?
So LightSquared now owns spectrum they basically can’t use … which sucks, but they should have done their research ahead of time before buying that spectrum in the first place.