Subcommittee Democrats Urge Finding a Way for LightSquared and GPS Users to Co-Exist
Today, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing to review the impacts of the proposed LightSquared network on federal science activities. LightSquared is a company that wants to add a nationwide broadband telecommunications network to its existing satellite phone services. Because the frequency bands assigned to LightSquared sit next to those designated for the Global Positioning System, commonly known as GPS, there has been concern that GPS services would be compromised by a LightSquared cell network. Federal agencies, including those under the Committee’s jurisdiction, depend heavily on GPS—a government system developed by the Department of Defense--to fulfill their mission and serve the American people. GPS satellite signals have spawned an entire area of innovation in private industry with new hardware and applications, thereby allowing the average citizen unprecedented tools for location and navigation. There is an ongoing regulatory review being conducted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); the FCC has not indicated when it will make its decision.
In her opening remarks, Committee Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson [D-TX] said, “The LightSquared proposal to build a nationwide broadband network in the frequencies that sit next to GPS has provoked enormous controversy. I believe that if there is no way for LightSquared to move forward without damaging GPS, then the FCC should not approve the company’s proposal. However, I do not believe that the FCC would make a decision that compromises GPS services. The question the Commission has to settle, and the question that this hearing will not allow us to make much headway on, is whether GPS can thrive side-by-side with a ground-based broadband network. I sincerely hope that they can coexist.”
Congresswoman Johnson acknowledged that there are differing views on the severity and scope of the problem but stressed the need to try to find a mutually agreeable solution in light of the promise of projected benefits. She said, “We need more broadband just as we need GPS. LightSquared is saying that they intend to invest $14 billion over the next 8 years to build out their network, employing 15,000 people a year in the process. In building more information technology infrastructure, consumers would have more choice in their telecommunications and data services with lower costs and expanding access. We should also see accelerating innovation in data-intensive cellular applications that take advantage of the greater capacities of this new network—creating more jobs, more profits, and more growth in high tech industries. And we desperately need jobs, profits and growth right now.”
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