Since LightSquared’s bankruptcy last fall, a common perception was that the company had thrown in the towel and the GPS industry could cease looking over its shoulder, breathe a sigh of relief and get back to the navigation business. But that was not to be. In fact, what we have seen is more an extended time-out than a cessation of hostilities, as the combatants consolidated their positions. But neither has offered a cease-fire or surrender.
Each side has been sticking to its guns while modifying the most egregious target areas claimed by the other. The principal issue was that LightSquared sought to use two separate frequencies (called the upper and lower frequencies) to uplink and downlink Internet data between its current earth-orbiting satellite and its associated receiver system. The satellite signals would, like all satellite transmissions, be at very low power, but they would then be transmitted to terrestrial users via a nationwide network of high-powered ground stations. However, tests by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other government agencies quickly showed that the ground-station transmissions, particularly at the upper frequency, created unacceptably severe interference with all types of GPS receiver at virtually all altitudes.
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