Calm down. Contrary to some hyperbolic headlines, the 4G networks run by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, MetroPCS and T-Mobile won't have any effect on GPS signals. And brand-new 4G provider LightSquared, who GPS manufacturer Garmin complains may indeed interfere with location-based services, doesn't want to.
"We not only have to have a robust wireless broadband network, we have to have a robust GPS network. They both have to work," LightSquared executive vice president Jeff Carlisle said.
LightSquared owns a satellite communications network but wants to get into the more popular and profitable land-based cellular business. So it asked the FCC for a waiver so it could broadcast much more powerful land-based signals than it's been doing for the past 15 years.
LightSquared's "L-Band" spectrum, though, is right next to GPS. And Garmin argues that LightSquared's spectrum is in fact so close to GPS that its new signals overpower personal navigation devices.
"The signal that emanates from LightSquared towers, our tests show that it ... will degrade your signal to the point where you could not get a fix with GPS," Garmin spokesman Ted Gartner said.
The spectrum being used by all the other 4G carriers is farther away from GPS, and Garmin isn't saying that any of them will interfere. It's just LightSquared.
Carlisle said LightSquared is working with the GPS industry to fix the problem. On Jan. 26, the FCC issued a waiver allowing LightSquared to build their network only if LightSquared and the GPS industry can work out their differences. LightSquared is issuing its first report to the FCC tomorrow, and will follow with monthly updates until a final report is due on June 15.
"To assure that its rollout of full commercial service will satisfy the concerns about the possibility of inadvertent harmful interference to certain GPS devices, LightSquared pledges a diligent effort to work with all interested parties in an open and comprehensive process to address those concerns," LightSquared said in a statement.
This all sounds very scary, but Carlisle said many new technologies have interference issues, and the various parties involved always work them out.
"It happens almost every time there's a new network turned up. I could say every time," he said.
Garmin's Gartner said that he's just trying to make sure that the GPS industry has a say.
"We're a little bit concerned that LightSquared is in charge of this whole process, and we're concerned that somehow it's going to be incumbent on the GPS industry to be the ones that find the fix for this," Gartner said.
LightSquared plans to launch its network later this year and offer wholesale service to other companies, who would sell the service under their own names. LightSquared service could appear under cable companies' names, for instance. Sprint has also discussed some sort of future partnership with LightSquared.
The big question comes if LightSquared and the GPS industry can't come to terms by June 15, the deadline the FCC has set for LightSquared's final report. If the FCC revokes LightSquared's waiver, the company's business model will be in peril.
"They will send us a letter after the June 15th process to indicate whether they believe the problem has been addressed. We're very optimistic and we've gotten off to a great start," Carlisle said."Your guess is as good as mine" as to what happens if the two sides can't agree, Gartner said.
In any case, none of this could throttle your new Motorola Xoom or Samsung Galaxy S 4G: only LightSquared's spectrum is in question, not that of other carriers.