[gis_info] FW: [COGO] FW: Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips -- February 14, 2012

SMITH Cy * EISPD GEO cy.smith at state.or.us
Tue Feb 14 08:56:59 PST 2012


Everything you ever wanted to know and more about the latest happenings
on the LightSquared issue.

cy

Cy Smith, Oregon State GIO

DAS/EISPD Geospatial Enterprise Office

Secretary, Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO)

Past President, Urban & Regional Info Sys Assoc (URISA)

Past President, Natl States Geographic Info Council (NSGIC)

503-378-6066          http://gis.oregon.gov 

 

From: cogo-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
[mailto:cogo-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Curtis
Sumner
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 6:54 AM
To: State Executives; NSPS Officers and Directors; NSPS Govenors; NSPS
Foundation; GLIS Officers; AAGS Board; cogo at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Cc: John Matonich; Stephen Gould 2; Ilse Genovese; Trisha Milburn;
Laurence Socci
Subject: [COGO] FW: Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips -- February 14, 2012

 

Below is the latest from the Coalition.

If you were able to listen to the ACSM Radio Hour yesterday, you heard
the guests urge all of the GPS user community to remain diligent in
keeping up with the latest developments as the evolve, and to continue
to voice our opinions and concerns.

Thanks for distributing this information to your respective contact
lists.

Curt

 

From: Anne Tyrrell [mailto:atyrrell at prismpublicaffairs.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 7:58 AM
To: Anne Tyrrell
Subject: Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips -- February 14, 2012

 

Coalition to Save Our GPS Clips

February 14 2012

 

National Journal reports that President Obama's budget released Monday
includes a provision aimed at LightSquared:

 

*         "SEC. [628]618. None of the funds made available in this Act
may be used by the Federal Communications Commission to remove the
conditions imposed on commercial terrestrial operations in the Order and
Authorization adopted by the Commission on January 26, 2011 (DA 11-133),
or otherwise permit such operations, until the Commission has resolved
concerns of potential widespread harmful interference by such commercial
terrestrial operations to commercially available Global Positioning
System devices."

 

TR Daily, Communications Daily, The Hill and CNET report that U.S. Rep.
John Conyers (D-Mich.) sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
urging the commission to move forward with its review of the
LightSquared waiver. 

 

*         "I write to express concern about delays in the approval
process involving LightSquared's proposed 4G-LTE wireless broadband
network"..."I strongly urge the Commission to move with urgency to fully
test potential solutions to the LightSquared-GPS interference issue
employing transparent, fact-based methodologies, common-sense standards
and independent testing facilities."

 

Communications Daily reports that Globalstar said in an FCC filing that
the commission should consider "individualized circumstances" in
determining terrestrial build-out requirements for mobile satellite
service/ancillary terrestrial component operators.  

 

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Bloomberg report that Sprint's board
has decided that bonuses for Chief Executive Dan Hesse and other
employees will not suffer as a result of the company's bet on the
iPhone.   WSJ notes that also not included as a benefit to the company's
books is a network-sharing deal with LightSquared, whose network is
stalled while it tries to resolve GPS interference concerns.  

 

To see what LightSquared and the Coalition to Save Our GPS are saying on
Twitter, click here. 

 

A cite list and links to the full text of these and other articles
follow.

 

1.       The Hill, Conyers concerned about delays in LightSquared
approval, By Brendan Sasso, 02/13/12 01:00 PM ET

2.       CNET, LightSquared strums up political support, by Marguerite
Reardon, February 13, 2012 12:46 PM PST

3.       National Journal, Obama Budget Targets LightSquared, By Josh
Smith, February 13, 2012

4.       Broadcasting & Cable, Genachowski: Concerned About Incentive
Auction Legislation, Tells Flatirons audience net neutrality rules
defused radioactive issue, says nixing AT&T-T-Mobile was right thing to
do for competition, By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/13/2012
5:48:21 PM

5.       Wall Street Journal, FEBRUARY 14, 2012, Sprint Adjusts Bonus,
Executives Pay Won't Be Hurt by Costly Apple iPhone Deal, By ANTON
TROIANOVSKI

6.       Bloomberg, Sprint Nextel Boosts Bonuses by Excluding Cost of
Apple IPhones, February 14, 2012, 12:24 AM EST, By Scott Moritz

7.       Farm Futures, Officials Still Wrangling Over LightSquared,
Posted on February 14, 2012 at 3:00 AM

8.       COMMUNICATIONS DAILY, February 14, 2012 Tuesday, CAPITOL HILL,
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL, LENGTH: 76 words

9.       COMMUNICATIONS DAILY, February 14, 2012 Tuesday, SATELLITE,
SECTION: SATELLITE, LENGTH: 163 words

10.   TR Daily, LightSquared CITES LETTERS OF SUPPORT, 173 words, 13
February 2012

11.   LightSquared (@LightSquared) Tweets  

12.   Coalition (@SaveGPS) Tweets

 

***Excerpts/Links to Full Text of Articles***

 

The Hill, Conyers concerned about delays in LightSquared approval, By
Brendan Sasso, 02/13/12 01:00 PM ET

 

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) urged Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski to move forward with his agency's
review of controversial wireless start-up LightSquared.

 

"I write to express concern about delays in the approval process
involving LightSquared's proposed 4G-LTE wireless broadband network,"
Conyers wrote in a letter sent last Wednesday and obtained by The Hill
on Monday. "I strongly urge the Commission to move with urgency to fully
test potential solutions to the LightSquared-GPS interference issue
employing transparent, fact-based methodologies, common-sense standards
and independent testing facilities."

 

LightSquared has invested billions of dollars to launch a nationwide
wireless broadband service, but the company ran into problems last year
when tests showed its planned network could interfere with GPS devices.

 

As recently as last week, government officials have testified that the
network could disrupt critical GPS devices, including flight safety
systems.

 

LightSquared argues the problem is that GPS receivers are poorly
designed and are receiving signals from outside their designated
frequency bands. The GPS industry says its receivers are too sensitive
to filter out the powerful signals from LightSquared's cell towers on
nearby frequencies.

 

To read more click here
<http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/210301-conyers-conc
erned-about-delays-in-lightsquared-approval> .

<Return to top>

 

CNET, LightSquared strums up political support, by Marguerite Reardon,
February 13, 2012 12:46 PM PST 

 

A growing number of Congressional leaders and state officials are urging
the Federal Communications Commission to move forward with its review of
LightSquared, the controversial startup that plans to build a national
wireless broadband network using satellite spectrum.

 

Last week, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) sent a letter to FCC chairman
Julius Genachowski in support of the company and its plans.

 

"I write to express concern about delays in the approval process
involving LightSquared's proposed 4G-LTE wireless broadband network,"
Conyers wrote in a letter sent last week. "I strongly urge the
Commission to move with urgency to fully test potential solutions to the
LightSquared-GPS interference issue employing transparent, fact-based
methodologies, common-sense standards and independent testing
facilities."

 

In total seven Congressional leaders have filed letters with the FCC
supporting LightSquared's bid to build its network. And since December
13 state officials, including the governor of Mississippi have also sent
letters of support to the FCC. Congressional leaders and state officials
have been a mix of Democrats and Republicans.

 

What these lawmakers and government officials are saying is that the FCC
should give LightSquared the green-light to build its nationwide
wireless broadband network, because it would offer more competition and
more bandwidth in the market at a time when competition and additional
bandwidth are both very much needed.

 

To read more click here
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-57376842-266/lightsquared-strums-up-p
olitical-support/> .

<Return to top>

 

National Journal, Obama Budget Targets LightSquared, By Josh Smith,
February 13, 2012

 

Buried on page 1120 of President Obama's budget, the wireless startup
LightSquared gets an indirect shout out. And not in a good way.

 

The appendix of the massive budget document released on Monday includes
this provision:

 

"SEC. [628]618. None of the funds made available in this Act may be used
by the Federal Communications Commission to remove the conditions
imposed on commercial terrestrial operations in the Order and
Authorization adopted by the Commission on January 26, 2011 (DA 11-133),
or otherwise permit such operations, until the Commission has resolved
concerns of potential widespread harmful interference by such commercial
terrestrial operations to commercially available Global Positioning
System devices."

 

That language is aimed squarely at LightSquared's proposed nationwide
wireless network, which has been shown to interfere with GPS devices.
The FCC has long said it won't give LightSquared the green light until
the problem is solved, but that hasn't stopped Congress, and now
apparently, the White House, from seeking to make sure agency doesn't
move ahead with anything.

 

To read more click here
<http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2012/02/obama-budget-would-tar
get-ligh.php> .

<Return to top>

 

Broadcasting & Cable, Genachowski: Concerned About Incentive Auction
Legislation, Tells Flatirons audience net neutrality rules defused
radioactive issue, says nixing AT&T-T-Mobile was right thing to do for
competition, By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/13/2012 5:48:21
PM

 

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Monday that he was hopeful Congress
would pass incentive auction legislation but worried that it would
include provisions preventing the FCC from maximizing the overall value
of the spectrum.

 

He also said he was pleased with the fallout of the network neutrality
rules, saying they resolved a radioactive issue without putting crimp in
investment or innovation.

 

Genachowski was speaking at the Flatirons broadband policy conference at
the University of Colorado.

 

Flatirons executive director Phil Weiser, ex of the White House and a
fan of the FCC's codification of network neutrality rules, asked whether
the model of stakeholder participation and after-the-fact adjudication
rather than more prescriptive rules would be a model going forward.

 

The chairman said that the challenge was the FCC had to deal with a
changing world and still ensure baseline practices to ensure investment
and innovation. He said he tried to bring a "certain humility" to the
process without locking in a system. He said the rules were very limited
-- "less than a page."

 

He put in a plug for multi-stakeholder solutions to resolving disputes
about internet business practices-the FCC network neutrality rules
include having industry players weigh in on what constitutes reasonable
network management. He said that he is pleased with what has happened
since the FCC adopted the rules -- they went into effect last fall.

 

To read more click here
<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/480522-Genachowski_Concerned_A
bout_Incentive_Auction_Legislation.php> .

<Return to top>

 

Wall Street Journal, FEBRUARY 14, 2012, Sprint Adjusts Bonus, Executives
Pay Won't Be Hurt by Costly Apple iPhone Deal, By ANTON TROIANOVSKI

 

While investors and analysts are still debating the ultimate benefits of
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s high-stakes bet on the iPhone, the carrier's board
has decided that bonuses for Chief Executive Dan Hesse and other
employees won't suffer as a result.

 

Sprint said in a regulatory filing Monday that it won't count the impact
of the iPhone on the company's profits in calculating employee bonuses.
The company also won't count a benefit to the company's books from a
network-sharing deal with start-up wireless carrier LightSquared, though
that deal is stalled while Lightsquared tries to resolve concerns its
network would interfere with global-positioning systems.

 

The decision had the effect of boosting Mr. Hesse's short-term incentive
payout to $1.77 million for 2011 from the $1.53 million he would have
earned had the iPhone's impact been counted. In addition, the payout
under Mr. Hesse's long-term incentive plan for the year rose to 106.5%
from 91.5% of the target.

 

A Sprint spokesman, Scott Sloat, said the changes were warranted because
the company didn't know it would be carrying Apple Inc.'s iPhone or have
a deal with LightSquared when performance metrics were put in place
early last year. Mr. Sloat said a broad range of employees were eligible
for the short-term compensation plan. Excluding the iPhone helped the
bonus calculations, because they are based partly on Sprint's operating
income or cash flow.

 

The tweaks to Sprint bonuses are the latest indicator of how Apple's
wildly popular handset has affected the business of the nation's
wireless carriers. Sprint, of Overland Park, Kan., the third-largest
wireless carrier in the U.S., spelled out the magnitude of its bet on
the iPhone in late October, saying it will cost at least $15.5 billion
over four years, limiting its ability to turn a profit over that time.

 

To read more click here
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240529702048833045772217209773137
52.html?mod=googlenews_wsj> .

<Return to top>

 

Bloomberg, Sprint Nextel Boosts Bonuses by Excluding Cost of Apple
IPhones, February 14, 2012, 12:24 AM EST, By Scott Moritz

 

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Sprint Nextel Corp., which sells Apple Inc.'s
iPhone at a loss, says it excluded the device's cost from its 2011 bonus
calculations for eligible employees.

 

The move, which also excludes payments from partner LightSquared Inc.,
made short-term incentive bonuses 73.7 percent of target, up from the
63.7 percent amount that included these items. Sprint's long-term
incentive bonus rose to 106.5 percent from 91.5 percent of target with
the adjustments, the Overland Park, Kansas-based company said yesterday
in a filing.

 

Sprint, the nation's third-largest wireless phone company, like bigger
rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. sells the iPhone at a loss to sign
up customers on two-year contracts. Sprint, which has recorded five
years of consecutive losses, said it sold 1.8 million iPhones in the
fourth quarter and saw its subsidy costs increase about 40 percent.

 

To read more click here
<http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-14/sprint-nextel-boosts-bonuse
s-by-excluding-cost-of-apple-iphones.html> .

<Return to top>

 

Farm Futures, Officials Still Wrangling Over LightSquared, Posted on
February 14, 2012 at 3:00 AM

 

When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission granted LightSquared the
ability to develop its network of towers to deliver 4G LTE network
services, and a kind of universal broadband, the news was met with some
high-fives. That was a year ago. Now, it turns out controversy,
interference claims regarding GPS signals and a host of other issues
have piled on.

 

Today, LightSquared continues signing up new partners, but there's no
clear evidence that the FCC is going to give its approval to allow the
service to go into operation. Turns out, even after testing, there could
be problems with the highest end GPS receivers used by aviation and
perhaps the RTK box in your tractor cab.

 

Going past the claims and counter claims, the finger-pointing on both
sides, the net result is this. Farmers remain concerned about the
potential interference issues and those that wanted better high-speed
Web access don't see that happening from this service.

 

However, the controversy has raised another issue, which could have
regulators tightening up the rules on future GPS systems to help avoid
these interference issues in the future. For now, your GPS unit is safe.
That's good news with the 2012 planting season getting so much closer.

 

As the industry works through this issue, keeping in touch with your
supplier may be your best bet. Officials at a hearing last week in
Washington are working in new guidelines - important because FCC didn't
have to consider the "space-based" concerns of GPS when approving a
"land-based" system. In fact, that land-based system can interfere with
GPS - to what extent, however, is still being worked out.

 

To read more click here
<http://farmfutures.com/blogs.aspx?fcb=22&fcbp=3014&fcbpc=0&s=1/14/2012&
e=3/14/2012> .

<Return to top>

 

COMMUNICATIONS DAILY, February 14, 2012 Tuesday, CAPITOL HILL, SECTION:
CAPITOL HILL, LENGTH: 76 words

 

The FCC should move quickly to test possible solutions to the
LightSquared/GPS interference fight, said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in
a Feb. 8 letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "I write to express
concerns about delays in the approval process involving LightSquared's"
proposed network, he said. The "wireless sector is in need of increased
competition" and the FCC should "act with urgency to resolve this issue
as quickly as possible," said Conyers.

 

<Return to top>

 

COMMUNICATIONS DAILY, February 14, 2012 Tuesday, SATELLITE, SECTION:
SATELLITE, LENGTH: 163 words

 

The FCC should consider "individualized circumstances" in determining
terrestrial build-out requirements for mobile satellite
service/ancillary terrestrial component operators, Globalstar said in a
filing (http://xrl.us/bmrvze). The agency shouldn't use a
"one-size-fits-all" approach in determining buildout conditions for Dish
Network in the 2 GHz band or other MSS/ATC operators, Globalstar said.
AT&T recently filed in the proceeding saying the agency should impose
LightSquared's buildout requirements on Dish (CD Jan 30 p9). Such an
approach might force MSS/ATC operators "to rely on less advanced
technologies simply to comply with such requirements, rather than
utilizing emerging technologies that will provide the greatest public
interest benefits to consumers," said Globalstar. The company said it
hopes to regain ATC authority later in the Big Low Earth Orbit band this
year. It lost ATC authority in 2010 after it was found not to be in
compliance with agency rules.

 

<Return to top>

 

TR Daily, LightSquared CITES LETTERS OF SUPPORT, 173 words, 13 February
2012

 

LightSquared, Inc., today released a number of letters to the FCC or the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration from members
of Congress, state elected officials, and its corporate partners voicing
support for allowing the company to move ahead to deploy a nationwide 4G
LTE (long term evolution) network. "Together this shows the growing base
of support for LightSquared both inside and outside the beltway," said
Chris Stern, a spokesman for LightSquared. The letters of support came
from 10 members of Congress, 13 state elected officials, and eight
companies. A number of the letters were dated last month and this month.
In the most recent congressional letter, Rep. John Conyers Jr., ranking
member of the House Judiciary Committee, Feb. 8 expressed "concern about
delays in the approval process involving LightSquared's proposed 4G-LTE
wireless broadband network.

 

I strongly urge the Commission to move with urgently to fully test
potential solutions to the LightSquared-GPS interference issue employing
transparent, fact-based methodologies, common-sense standards and
independent testing facilities."

 

<Return to top>

 

LightSquared (@LightSquared) Tweets  

 

Conyers concerned about delays in LightSquared approval, via @TheHill
ow.ly/92YoL

 

Wolfe County Judge: Issue of vital importance to rural America.
LightSquared spending over $14B in 

 

CEO Codell Construction: "It is easy for a highway builder to
understand: We need a bigger highway for our information" ow.ly/92KV1

 

Thanks to all who writing in support of our FCC petition. We'll be
tweeting a snapshot of many in favor of wireless broadband competition.

 

Some aviation receivers designed to listen outside of allotted GPS band:
ow.ly/92u02

 

Avid sailor & Dr. of Engineering: GPS industry doesn't use latest tech
even tho cell systems in nearby bands do: ow.ly/92tBA

 

Coalition (@SaveGPS) Tweets

 

Learn more about the Coalition: saveourgps.org #savegps

 

<Return to top>

 

###

 

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