Lightsquared Accuses FCC of Rigging GPS Tests
A month ago the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration released a report that said the signals emitted by LightSquared Communications’ satellite network interfered with GPS and other navigation devices. That report sounded like a death knell for…
A month ago the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration released a report that said the signals emitted by LightSquared Communications’ satellite network interfered with GPS and other navigation devices. That report sounded like a death knell for LightSquared and its major investor, Harbinger Capital led by Philip Falcone.
Now the FCC’s former chief engineer and a LightSquared executive say the tests were “cherry-picked” and the results were “rigged by manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results, and revealed details of the testing to document its accusations.” The company makes three specific points:
- Testing was shrouded in secrecy, no transparency
- The testing protocol deliberately focused on obsolete and niche market devices that were least able to withstand potential interference
- The testing standard does not reflect realilty
The company is seeking another round of testing at an “independent laboratory to ensure objectivity and transparency.”
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.