Tests showed continued GPS interference from LightSquared equipment ahead of FCC filing

LightSquared continued its public relations push today hosting a conference call designed to set expectations for its June 15 final report filing with the Federal Communications Commission on recently concluded tests of potential interference between its hybrid satellite/terrestrial network and ground-based GPS systems.
The company noted that recently completed tests using equipment expected to be used for its actual network deployment showed some interference with GPS systems, though LightSquared claims it has technical fixes in the works that would mitigate the issues.
LightSquared noted that the tests, which were conducted in New Mexico, used base station equipment operating at about half power. The company added that for its actual deployment plans it would also use remote head antennas that would be able to operate at full power.
Despite the possibility for continued GPS interference issues, LightSquared said it expected to begin network testing by the end of the year with commercial roll outs able to begin in early 2012. This would seem to be a slight delay from the carrier’s original plans for commercial deployments beginning by the end of this year, though it did note that it remained on track to provide terrestrial coverage to 100 million potential customers by the end of 2012.
LightSquared had originally planned to build out approximately 40,000 cell sites in support of its ground-based LTE network, but recently has hinted that it would also be interested in sharing network infrastructure with an established player. Rumors have been circulating that Sprint Nextel Corp.’s recently launched Network Vision plan could be a possible source for such an arrangement.