LightSquared, a company hoping to build a wholesale mobile network with 4G data capabilities, has apparently given up on approval from the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) and is trying to force the FCC to allow them to launch their service.
LightSquared's problems stem from a decision to use frequencies originally licensed for satellite communication ... [ read the full article ]
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When I first heard of LightSquared it sounded like a good idea to have more 4G competition...but they are just the dirtiest bastards...and you know they would just do pricefixing if they were ever allowed to operate anyway.
hhmmm....I seem to recall pilots, farmers, drivers, ship captains, and everyone else on the planet being able to function in their daily lives without GPS, for years. In some of these cases, hundreds, and/or, thousands of years. Stop being lazy and learn to read maps people. Pretty soon someone will invent a toilet that comes to you.
I need my GPS...my sense of navigation is absolutely horrible, and God knows I can't multitask. If this were to interfere with my receiving of a GPS signal, I would be enraged.
I'm interested in why you don't like them.
Myself I'm surprised they waited this long to do this. They have given GPS ample notice.
It is GPS which is infringing on LIGHTSQUARED'S spectrum. They bought and paid for it.
They've tried to work with GPS. They've offered solutions.
So now they want to get their money's worth.
I'm thinking this is a move to get a different block of bandwidth. Otherwise they would be completely screwed through no fault of their own.
Originally posted by baxter00: hhmmm....I seem to recall pilots, farmers, drivers, ship captains, and everyone else on the planet being able to function in their daily lives without GPS, for years.
Farmers and pilots use an enhanced form of GPS (which does use signals that intrude into Lightsquared's spectrum) to get precision down to fractions of a foot. Farmers use this precision down to inches to guide their farm equipment -- which is impossible with printed maps. This allows them to save big money on not overlapping fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides as they go down each row. It allows them to accurately plant seeds. The money they save this way is huge.
Pilots need the super-accuracy for the next generation of airport ground systems, which will allow planes to land and take-off much closer together. This will save all kinds of money and time. Once again, this is not something that can be done with printed maps.
Originally posted by ThePastor: I'm interested in why you don't like them.
Myself I'm surprised they waited this long to do this. They have given GPS ample notice.
It is GPS which is infringing on LIGHTSQUARED'S spectrum. They bought and paid for it.
They've tried to work with GPS. They've offered solutions.
Lightsquared obtained this spectrum back around 2004 when they bought another company which owned the rights. At that time they knew GPS was already intruding into their spectrum. Yet they didn't make an issue of it nor do anything to resolve the issue until just the last couple of years when they wanted final approval.
Lightsqared's problems began because they wanted to use this spectrum with a much more powerful terrestrial system. This was also their plans back in 2004, and outside the license to the spectrum.
So the real question is why Lightsqared waited so long to resolve this issue. If they were an honest company they would have had a plan to address it back in 2004 when they acquired the spectrum. If they had just stuck to satellite transmissions they would have had a real case and could have forced the GPS industry to retrofit receivers. But instead they are trying end-runs such as currying favor with politicians, making a big public stink, and generally confusing the issue.
