Rep. Eshoo Asks NTIA to Resolve GPS Issues With LightSquared

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) has asked the National Telecommunications & Information Administration to find a way to protect GPS and allow LightSquared to offer its national terrestrial-based wireless broadband service and the "exciting job opportunities" it represents.

That came in a letter to NTIA administrator Lawrence Strickling, a copy of which was obtained by B&C/Multi.

In the letter, she says it is well worth the effort to resolve the interference issues with GPS, which have so far stalled the service's rollout. She said she is convinced that "a solution can be obtained by both parties that will mitigate any harmful interference."

She urged NTIA to continue their "fact-based" and "engineering-driven" process, an oblique reference to the politics swirling around the issue.

She also invokes the president's goal of bringing high-speed wireless to 98% of the country. The FCC has talked of the price and service competition in 4G wireless LightSquared's wholesale network would bring.

LightSquared Wednesday said it had found a solution to the GPS interference issue, but the GPS industry was not convinced.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.