Bloomberg News reports the “Air Force command that operates U.S. military satellites remains concerned that mobile broadband service proposed by the former LightSquared Inc. will interfere with GPS signals, its top official said.”
“General John Hyten, head of the Air Force Space Command, voiced his wariness before a House Armed Services panel Tuesday as the company, now called Ligado Networks LLC, tries to revive prospects to become a U.S. mobile provider,” according to Bloomberg News.
Bloomberg reports “Hyten said he wants to see results from new tests that will begin in April to determine if Ligado has successfully reduced the risk of interference with the Global Positioning System operated by the U.S. military.”
“I don’t think that we should infringe on the GPS spectrum,” Hyten said, “That’s a critical capability, not just for the military security of the nation but for” the entire economy, “[…] We can’t allow that to happen.”
“Ligado has said it will limit its use of airwaves nearest those needed by the global-positioning system,” reported Bloomberg, “To make up for that, Ligado has asked the government to let commercial providers share frequency spectrum used for weather data.”
Hyten said that “the new tests by the Air Force and the Department of Transportation will be followed by a peer review,” and “by November, the Air Force should have a better understanding of Ligado’s potential impact.”
According to Bloomberg, “Ligado, led by former Verizon Communications Inc. chairman Ivan Seidenberg, has offered new spectrum plans it contends will lessen prospects of GPS interference that previously stymied the company.”
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