LightSquared Seeks Probe of Report on Government GPS Test
LightSquared Inc. is calling for a government investigation into a leak of test results that indicated its planned wireless service caused interference with global-positioning system receivers.
Testing conducted Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 indicated that LightSquared’s service caused interference with 75 percent of GPS receivers, Bloomberg News reported Dec. 9, citing a draft summary of the results.
“The information leaked on Friday, December 9, 2011 was preliminary, incomplete and did not represent the full findings from the test results,” LightSquared Chief Executive Officer Sanjiv Ahuja said in a letter to officials at the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation.
He asked the departments to “refer this matter for an immediate investigation to determine the circumstances of this leak.”
LightSquared, backed by $3 billion from Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners hedge fund, has proposed offering high-speed mobile Internet service to as many as 260 million people using 40,000 base stations. The service would operate on airwaves formerly reserved mainly for satellites, and near those used by GPS devices.
The Reston, Virginia-based company said the results wrongfully assume that LightSquared’s wireless network will operate at a power level 32 times greater than the one at which it will actually operate, according to the letter.
Planes, Tractors, Automobiles
LightSquared is facing challenges from GPS companies that say the service will disrupt navigation by cars, boats, tractors and planes. U.S. regulators have been withholding approval as they check the claims of interference.
“It is the latest in a series selective leaks aimed at undermining LightSquared’s efforts to find a solution to the GPS interference problem and serve the narrow business interests of a few GPS companies,” LightSquared said.
The testing was requested by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a part of the Commerce Department.
“Our analysis is still under way and we are examining the full range of scenarios,” said Moira Vahey, a spokeswoman for the NTIA. “The conclusions to be drawn from the test data will vary depending on factors such as LightSquared’s power levels and other technical variables.”
Official results of the testing won’t be released for “several more weeks,” Anthony Russo, director of the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing, said in an e-mailed statement. The NTIA asked that the tests be conducted under the auspices of Russo’s office.
Bloomberg stands by its reporting, said Ty Trippet, a spokesman for New York-based Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News.
To contact the reporters on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net
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