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LightSquared: GPS fix will cost industry $400M...GPS users can pay $300-$800 to buy a filter from LightSquared
LightSquared Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben told CNET that there are roughly 500,000 commercial precision GPS devices in the U.S. that could be disrupted by its network. But the company has developed a device, which costs between $300 and $800 and will protect GPS devices from such disruptions. (reviews.cnet.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Meanwhile, the FCC continues to allow LightSquared to perform tests that disrupt GPS navigation over a HUGE section of busy airspace in the SouthWest part of the country. The NOTAMs on this are scary. This is outrageous.
Post the NOTAMs if you get time. Interesting.
I am not a lawyer, but I suspect that they would have less wiggle room defending against a GPS related crash if the aircraft was using their correcting hardware to correct against the GPS disruption they caused.
Since GPS is a Department of Defense (DOD) system, I wonder what the military thinks. Many weapon systems now days use GPS for navigating. Not just aircraft (example - missiles, bombs, UAVs,targeting systems, etc.). The International Space Station (ISS) uses it for its navigation and position tracking (I worked on this some a few years ago). The DOD would have the clout to make LightSquare look at there product.
My first call will be to garmin.
I'm not much of a techno-geek, but if the problem comes from GPS systems bleeding over into part of the RF spectrum that LightSquared owns (as it states in this article), then I'm not so sure? I DO KNOW that END USERS (me and you) of GPS equipment sure as HELL shouldn't have to pay for any "filters" or whatever it takes to solve the problem. I agree that the GPS network is FAR too important to risk just so IPad yuppies can watch "Dancing With The Stars" on their lunchbreaks and such (I know....that was a cheap shot), but the two industries need to figure out a solution that doesn't cost consumers who have ALREADY purchased equipment.