LightSquared Says Tests Show GPS Compatibility

LightSquared reported yesterday that results of testing by an independent laboratory “confirmed that several major high-precision [GPS] receivers...are 100-percent compatible with LightSquared’s network.” LightSquared is seeking government approval to build a nationwide broadband network integrated with satcom, to provide high-speed Internet access throughout the U.S.

Manufacturers of other high-precision GPS receivers “have also developed solutions that have been tested at the lab,” according to LightSquared, which added, “These are major developments and a direct repudiation of the claims of some GPS device makers that the interference issue is an unsolvable physics problem.”

Jim Kirkland, v-p and general counsel of Trimble and a founding member of the Coalition to Save Our GPS, said, “We look forward to studying the new test results. It’s important to keep in mind that these are LightSquared-sponsored tests separate from the ongoing, independent testing being conducted under the auspices of the NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration], and are simply one input into an overall analysis of the effect of LightSquared’s planned operations on critical GPS uses.”

The NTIA is expected to release results of testing of consumer and general navigation devices in mid-December.