LightSquared received a 16-day extension from the Federal Communications Commission on its plans to file a report into potential interference issues its proposed terrestrial network may cause to GPS systems.
LightSquared was originally scheduled to deliver the report on June 15, but instead filed the extension request.
“Producing a final report is a massive undertaking,” LightSquared noted in its extension request. “The test development, device selection, laboratory set-up, data compilation, analysis, and drafting that are preconditions to a final report require coordination among numerous parties (most of which have detailed numerous representatives to the working group), including LightSquared, GPS device manufacturers, and federal agencies.
LightSquared noted several reasons for its inability to complete the report, including the need for additional testing using alternative frequency plans, which was not originally anticipated and has set back the report. LightSquared also cited the “time consuming” nature of analyzing test results, something else it had not originally anticipated.
LightSquared held a hastily-assembled conference call earlier this month where it told reporters that recently completed tests had showed continued interference between LightSquared’s equipment and GPS receivers. The company noted that the tests, which were conducted in New Mexico, used base station equipment operating at about half power. The company added that for its actual deployment plans it would also use remote head antennas that would be able to operate at full power.
The company has also been rumored to be in talks with Sprint Nextel Corp. over a network sharing arrangement that would help LightSquared meet its planned goals of covering 100 million potential customers by the end of 2012. LightSquared had originally planned to build out approximately 40,000 cell sites in support of its ground-based LTE network, but those plans are up in the air as many have noted the company currently lacks the funds to complete such a build out.
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