US high-speed network affects GPS signals

wireless broadband network would cause harmful interference with GPS signals, Bloomberg Businessweek writes.

Defence and transportation officials say testing shows no practical solution to the threat posed by the network, planned by Virginia company, LightSquared.

Based on two rounds of tests by federal agencies and separate tests by the Federal Aviation Administration, the group said it had unanimously concluded that LightSquared's original and modified network plans "would cause harmful inference to many GPS receivers”, The Wall Street Journal reports.

"Based upon this testing and analysis, there appears to be no practical solutions or mitigations that would permit the LightSquared broadband service, as proposed, to operate in the next few months or years without significantly interfering with GPS," the group wrote.

According to PC Mag, it's a major blow to LightSquared, which planned to spend nearly $14 billion to build its network over the next decade.

However, the company is not taking federal officials' conclusions lightly. LightSquared has already petitioned NASA's inspector general to investigate Bradford Parkinson, the vice-chairman of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board, alleging that his position as director of Trimble Navigation, a GPS vendor, possibly violates federal ethics regulations and conflict of interest laws.