AEM Speaks Out Against Threat to GPS

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has prepared a letter to Congress Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and the Federal Communications Commission urging them to block the attemp by LightSquared to deploy a nationwide broadband internet infrastructure of 40000 ground stations that would “very likely render commercial and private GPS signals unreliable and in some cases useless”.

According to one AEM member company the LightSquared plan could degrade most if not all GPS receivers as far as 22 miles from one of the 40000 transmitters.

The letter spells out the GPS-related jobs in the U.S. That would be affected as well as the construction and agricultural systems that would be rendered useless.

“We do not object to the goals of increasing wireless data capacity and competition but the available test data has shown overwhelming interference and LightSquared should not be allowed to launch in the spectrum adjacent to GPS and jeopardize construction operations” the letter stated.