LightSquared denies 4G network still endangering GPS

LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja called foul Monday on portions of internal analyses of test results that were leaked to Bloomberg News.

"It is apparent that this leak was intended to damage LightSquared’s reputation, spread false information in the marketplace, and prejudice public opinion against LightSquared before a full and complete analysis of the testing results had been presented to ExCom, NTIA, or the Federal Communications Commission," Ahuja said in a widely circulated letter addressed to U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary John Porcari and U.S. Dept. of Defense Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter. "LightSquared has suffered serious and substantial injury as a result of this leak."

LightSquared's untraditional 4G spectrum runs close to what GPS uses, and early testing showed it to present a public-safety risk, interfering with consumer GPS devices, as well as those used by industries such as air travel, trucking and law enforcement. Ahuja, speaking at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco last month, said the company was "confident" it could solve the issue (CP: LightSquared CEO walks thin line warning of 'spectrum crunch'). But Dec. 9 reports from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal reported that new government tests showed the network could still "knock out a 'great majority' of GPS devices."

The Journal report cites a congressional aide who saw a draft of a government report on the tests. LightSquared has said it will only use frequencies farthest from GPS signals, but the aide added that the report found that might not be sufficient to solve the problem.

Ahuja wrote in his letter than the leak was based on "slanted analysis of the data," and based on Lightsquared's own review of the data test, "We profoundly disagree with that conclusion. To achieve [the level of failure stated in the report], the leaked internal analysis assumes that the power levels of LightSquared networks are 32 times greater than the power levels at which LightSquared will actually operate."

He added that internal analysis shows the "vast majority" of navigation devices won't experience interference from the LightSquared network and called on the officials to issue a statement clarifying the information that was leaked and initiating an investigation into the source of the leak.

LightSquared's predominant investor is hedge-fund billionaire Philip Falcone. The government will decide what to do about the network next year. In the mean time, Bloomberg also reports that U.S. regulators are considering suing Falcone over alleged violations of securities laws.

"The threat of a lawsuit, disclosed last week, has prompted the hedge-fund manager to consider suspending withdrawals for a second time in three years," wrote Bloomberg, "which may make attracting new investors difficult unless his bet on a wireless telecommunications venture called LightSquared Inc. pays off."

LightSquared has also come under the fire of the Coalition to Save our GPS, which asserts that the 4G company has pulled a fast one on U.S. tax payers. By using spectrum designated for satellite transmission for mobile spectrum, LightSquared has increased the value of its licenses by $10 billion, jilting the U.S. Treasury — which would normally designate spectrum only after a lucrative auction amongst operators — out of billions during economically strained times (CP: LightSquared is jilting taxpayers out of billions, GPS industry claims).

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has also taken the LightSquared network into his own hands. After requests for information from the Federal Communications Commission "that would shed light into the process of the agency's fast-tracking of the LightSquared broadband project," were "stonewalled," Grassley said in a Nov. 3 statement, he decided to get in the way of two nominations for new FCC commissioners.

“I strongly believe that it is critical for Congress to have access to documents in order to conduct vigorous and independent oversight," said Grassley. "It is unfortunate that this administration, which has pledged to be the most transparent in history, disagrees. As long as they continue to do so, I will be forced to take steps like this in order to ensure that Congress receives a complete picture of this administration’s actions.”

Grassley's statement included concerns about LightSquared's interference with GPS signals and that its major investor was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegations of market manipulation.