[SFDXA] F.C.C. Bars the Use of Airways for a Broadband Plan

[Bill]

 From Chuck W4ROA


      F.C.C. Bars the Use of Airwaves for a Broadband Plan


                By EDWARD WYATT
                <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/edward_wyatt/index.html?inline=nyt-per>


                Published: February 14, 2012


    WASHINGTON — A proposed wireless broadband network that would
    provide voice and Internet service using airwaves once reserved for
    satellite-telephone transmissions should be shelved because it
    interferes with GPS technology, the Federal Communications
    Commission
    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_communications_commission/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
    said Tuesday.
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                Kevin Wolf/Associated Press

    Philip Falcone, a prominent New York hedge fund manager, is the
    majority owner of LightSquared.


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                    Times Topic: Federal Communications Commission
                    <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_communications_commission/index.html>

    The F.C.C. statement revokes the conditional approval for the
    network given last year. It comes after an opinion by the National
    Telecommunications and Information Administration
    <http://www.ntia.doc.gov/fcc-filing/2012/ntia-lightsquared-recommendation-fcc>,
    which said that “there is no practical way to mitigate the potential
    interference at this time” with GPS devices. The telecommunications
    and information agency oversees telecommunications policy at the
    Commerce Department.
    The news appears to squash the near-term hopes for the network
    pushed by LightSquared, a Virginia company that is majority-owned by
    Philip Falcone, a New York hedge fund manager.
    LightSquared said on Tuesday that the testing of the network was
    “severely flawed.”
    <http://www.lightsquared.com/press-room/press-releases/lightsquared-remains-committed-to-finding-resolution/>
    It “remains committed to finding a resolution with the federal
    government and the GPS industry to resolve all remaining concerns,”
    the company said in a statement.
    The company said it “profoundly disagrees” with the results of the
    testing, which was done by a national engineering group, and the
    telecommunication agency’s opinions, “which disregard more than a
    decade of regulatory orders, and in doing so, jeopardize private
    enterprise, jobs and investment in America’s future.”
    The F.C.C., which had granted a conditional approval to LightSquared
    to go ahead with its network pending the results of more testing,
    will now propose barring near-term deployment of the LightSquared
    system, the F.C.C. said. The commission will issue a request for
    public comment on the proposed action on Wednesday.
    LightSquared has argued that its network would have relieved a
    potential “spectrum crunch” and created billions of dollars of
    investment and thousands of jobs in support of President Obama’s
    push to expand wireless Internet access around the country.
    The network has been opposed by organizations and industries that
    make heavy use of GPS systems, including the military, aviation,
    construction and agriculture.
    After earlier negative test results, LightSquared had proposed using
    only land-based transmitters and receivers, rather than satellites,
    to transmit broadband signals over a narrow slice of the satellite
    airwaves. The company intended to build a wholesale network, selling
    access to other companies that provide broadband service directly to
    consumers.
    The telecommunications and information agency said tests showed that
    even a scaled-back version of the company’s wireless network would
    interfere with GPS signals and systems.
    Interference of LightSquared’s signals with GPS systems is a tricky
    issue for the F.C.C., telecommunications experts say, because the
    interference appears not to be the fault of LightSquared. The most
    commonly used GPS receivers tend to pick up signals from outside of
    the segment of spectrum designated for GPS.
    Because the satellite-telephone segment of airwaves, used by
    LightSquared, is next to the GPS band on the electromagnetic
    spectrum, GPS devices will frequently hear those extraneous
    transmissions.
    The F.C.C. could have told GPS users and systems manufacturers that
    they were at fault for letting their devices stray into nearby
    airwaves, but that would mean overhauling an industry now in
    widespread use.
    Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared’s executive vice president for
    regulatory affairs and public policy, wrote on the company’s blog
    this week that the GPS industry had apparently become “too big to
    fail,” seeking protection from the federal government for its own
    mistakes.
    “GPS manufacturers have been selling devices that listen into
    frequencies outside of their assigned spectrum band — namely into
    LightSquared’s licensed band,” Mr. Carlisle wrote. “The GPS industry
    has leveraged years of insider relationships and massive lobbying
    dollars to make sure that they don’t have to fix the problem they
    created.”
    Opposition to LightSquared’s network has come from the Pentagon and
    military industries, as well as from commercial companies like John
    Deere, whose advanced farm equipment uses GPS systems.
    Last July, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a report
    saying that it would take 10 years for the civil aviation industry
    to design, develop, certify and install modified GPS equipment in
    the nation’s fleet of commercial and private jets.
    But in January, after initial results of the latest round of testing
    began to appear in the media, LightSquared conducted a conference
    call with reporters in which the company’s executives said the
    testing requirements were aimed at producing a failing result and
    that members of the advisory board overseeing the testing “have deep
    ties with the same GPS manufacturers who have sold poorly designed
    equipment to America’s farmers, public safety officials, military
    and government agencies.”
    Mr. Falcone’s hedge fund, Harbinger Capital Partners
    <http://www.harbingercapital.com/>, lost more than 46 percent of its
    value last year because of declines in the value of LightSquared, a
    private company whose shares do not actively trade.
    Harbinger marked down the value of its LightSquared investment by 50
    percent in December, a move that came after a 9 percent markdown
    earlier in the year. The New York Times reported earlier this month
    <http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/02/03/lightsquareds-woes-weigh-on-falcone-hedge-fund/>
    that LightSquared accounted for an estimated 60 percent of Mr.
    Falcone’s fund.
    Late last year, Mr. Falcone received a Wells Notice from the
    Securities and Exchange Commission, an action the agency typically
    takes when it is planning enforcement proceedings against a firm or
    individual. The Times reported in December that the S.E.C was
    investigating
    <http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/s-e-c-examines-harbingers-dealings-with-goldman/>
    whether Harbinger agreed in 2009 to allow Goldman Sachs to withdraw
    up to $50 million from the firm’s hedge funds, while not striking
    similar deals with other clients.
    In a federal filing disclosing the issue, Harbinger said that it was
    “disappointed” about the notices, and that it would “vigorously
    defend against” any formal charges.
    Mr. Falcone was part of an investment group that bought 19 percent
    of the common stock of The New York Times Company and in 2008
    reached a deal to award the group two new seats on the company’s
    board. The group urged the company to begin selling assets to help
    increase the stock price. One of the two directors has since left
    the board.