Page 22 - Volume 16 Number 1

NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION • focusNew Government Tests Raise the AlarmIn addition, a press report by Bloomberg news service just as this Twin & Turbine summary was being prepared, said that government tests indicate the base stations for the proposed 4G LTE network created “harmful interference” for 75 percent of the GPS devices used in the test. According to the findings leaked to the media, the government’s analysis found that that “millions of GPS units are not compatible” with LightSquared’s network.“LightSquared signals caused harmful interference to the majority of GPS receivers tested,” the draft read, according to the Bloomberg report. “No additional testing is required to confirm harmful interference exists.”LightSquared argues that the tests ordered by the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, with participation by the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), did not factor LightSquared’s proposed treatment of its base stations in a real-world environment.The results of the testing were expected to be presented to the Commerce Department, and the FCC has indicated it will decide in 2012 as to whether LightSquared will actually be permitted to deploy the network.GPS Is Essential to Aviation Safety“NBAA members are not opposed to the development and deployment of new or improved technology systems – as long as itis conclusively proven that it will not result in radio interference with GPS systems or pose any threat to the global aviation transportation system,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen in written testimony submitted to a hearing conducted jointly by two congressional committees last year.More than 60% of the 11,000 business aircraft operating today in the United States along with thousands of general aviation aircraft are equipped with various GPS capabilities required for instrument approaches at over 5,000 airports. Even more have en route GPS capability.NBAA has been actively involved in efforts calling for LightSquared to demonstrate technology fully compatible with GPS, including submitting comments to Congress and the FCC, and joining with the Coalition to Save Our GPS, which has more than 200 members. The coalition is committed to resolving the threat to GPS and preserving its benefits for industries, government and citizens.Last fall, the coalition issued a white paper estimating the cost of GPS interference to federal agencies, and not factoring private sector costs, in the range of $245 billion.Congressional Leaders Voice ConcernMeasures in both the House and Senate have called on the FCC to halt use of federal funds and defer plans to deploy the wireless network until answers to the interference questions are satisfactorily resolved.In addition, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) has threatened to hold up confirmation of presidential nominees to the FCC’s five-member commission until Chairman Julius Genachowski responds to his requests for more information on the internal decision process that resulted in the waiver being granted.Grassley’s concerns mirror those of other lawmakers who have written the FCC to ask why the waiver was granted without waiting for independent test results. m20 • TWIN & TURBINE JANUARY 2012