CSDS' Blog

Conflicting Technology Threatens GPS Signals

Posted by Lori Gandleman on Fri, May 20, 2011 @ 04:39 PM

The Coalition to Save Our GPS is working to resolve a serious GPS Satellite resized 600threat to the Global Positioning System. A company has been granted a conditional waiver by the FCC to build 40,000 ground stations in the U.S. that could cause widespread interference to GPS signals—endangering a national utility which millions of Americans rely on every day.

To safeguard GPS, the Coalition seeks a number of remedies from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which recently granted a waiver to a company called LightSquared that allows them to repurpose the satellite spectrum immediately neighboring that of the GPS.

LightSquared plans to transmit ground-based radio signals that would be one billion or more times more powerful as received on earth than GPS's low-powered satellite-based signals, potentially causing severe interference impacting millions of GPS receivers - including those used by the federal agencies, state and local governments, first responders, airlines, mariners, civil engineering, construction and surveying, agriculture, and everyday consumers in their cars and on handheld devices.

YOU CAN HELP PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING...

Voice your concerns directly to congressional representatives.

To voice your concerns about GPS interference, you can send letters, emails, faxes, call or visit your Congressional representatives' office in person to explain how you use GPS as a local business and what the impacts of interference would be to the local economy.

Get involved by Joining the Coalition to Save Our GPS

Help CSDS get the word out by POSTING COMMENTS on our blog expressing why your organization is concerned about the threat to GPS.

GPS must be protected. Don't wait until it is too late. For more information, visit: www.saveourgps.org      

Tags: GPS technology, GPS signal interference, safeguard GPS, Coalition to Save our GPS