WASHINGTON, D.C. — Global positioning system (GPS) device makers, farm groups and others continue to raise objections over plans to expand broadband Internet access over concerns about GPS signal interference.

Ethan Matthews, manager of public policy and regulatory affairs at the National Corn Growers Assoc. (NCGA), said the NCGA is “strongly in favor of an expanded rural broadband access,” but added if carried out without changes, LightSquared’s plans will cause signal interference with common GPS devices, such as those used in cars and tractors.

“Our position on this has not changed,” Matthews said. “We believe this is a problem and even if there is a technical fix for it, our position is that farmers shouldn’t have to bear the cost of it.”

LightSquared is working to expand broadband Internet access, but it’s planning to use spectrum that’s close to that used by GPS devices – and that has people worried. LightSquared wants to use the spectrum to accommodate smart phone technology and to increase access in underserved areas. The company also has a government-mandated responsibility to work with stakeholders to try to resolve interference issues.

The company, formerly called MSV and then SkyTerra, was granted tentative permission to use more bandwidth that will allow it to provide more cellular and satellite service to other companies, that will then sell services to retail customers.

Late last month, LightSquared asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a declaratory ruling to confirm the company’s right to use the spectrum licensed to it by the federal government. It also asked the FCC to confirm that commercial GPS makers have no right to interference protection from LightSquared’s network, since they are not licensed users of that spectrum.

“The one inescapable conclusion from two rounds of independent testing is that the incompatibility problem is not caused by LightSquared’s network,” said LightSquared Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy Jeff Carlisle.

“It is clear that GPS devices are purposefully designed to look into LightSquared’s licensed spectrum, and given this evidence, we believe decision makers should consider LightSquared’s legal rights as the licensee. LightSquared has had FCC authorization to build its network for over eight years and that authorization was endorsed by the GPS industry, and fully reviewed and allowed to proceed by several other government agencies.”

Matthews said LightSquared wasn’t even granted conditional approval for its plan until early 2011, so GPS device makers had no way of knowing what they were doing was going to be a problem. Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel at GPS device maker Trimble Navigation, echoed Matthews’ point and made others of his own.

“The FCC granted this waiver, but said it was contingent upon LightSquared proving non-interference,” Kirkland said.

He added the concept that GPS device makers are looking into LightSquared’s spectrum is “not really an engineering concept, it’s a rhetorical concept. The story about this being the industry’s fault is a story they came up with after they realized there was a problem. It is not a factual argument. You can understand why they would say that, because they can’t solve the real problem.

“To say they’re looking into your band because the receivers can’t screen out signals that are billions of times stronger is pure public relations.”

It isn’t only GPS device makers who say there’s a problem with interference. It’s also a technical work group that is reviewing tests conducted to determine the extent of the problem. A report on the group’s findings will be sent to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which advises the president. The report will also be presented to the FCC.

The group’s preliminary findings, which were announced Dec. 14, found there were no interference issues with cell phones, but did find significant problems with GPS devices. The “testing did show that LightSquared signals caused harmful interference to the majority of other tested general purpose GPS receivers. Separate analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration also found interference with a flight safety system designed to warn pilots of approaching terrain,” according to the work group.

LightSquared rejects the government’s conclusions, saying it will use less power in actual implementation and, therefore, the tests are not accurate. It believes the devices will function normally in real-world conditions and that the government’s definition of device failure was overly conservative.

According to the technical work group, the FCC must be satisfied that GPS interference issues have been resolved before it will agree to have the new network turned on. LightSquared says it has spent $160 million to help resolve GPS interference issues and has compromised with the GPS device industry even though it believes it did not create the problem.

The company is working with the U.S. GPS Industry Council and others to resolve the outstanding issues.

Kirkland is doubtful LightSquared can ever fix the interference issues. “It’s not clear that they can modify their operations enough to resolve the interference problem,” he said.

For more information, go to www.pnt.gov