New super-fast wireless network could overpower GPS signals disrupting planes

A new ultra-fast wireless network could overpower GPS signals across America disrupting communication with everything from planes to navigation devices in police cars.

Waings of dangerous electronic interference came after a govement decision to allow a Virginia company to build a nationwide broadband network using airwaves next to those used for GPS.

Manufacturers fear that strong signals from the planned network could jam existing navigation systems.

A technical fix could be expensive - billions of dollars by one estimate - and there's no agreement on who should pay.

The Federal Communications Commission originally gave the go-ahead for the ground-based network in a bid to bring faster and cheaper Inteet connections to all Americans — even in remote coers of the country.

LightSquared and the FCC both insist the  network can work alongside GPS systems. But makers of GPS devices claim signals will suffer the way a radio station can get drowned out by a stronger broadcast in a nearby channel.

Threatened: The GPS navigation in a car could be drowned out by the network

The problem, they say, is that sensitive satellite receivers - designed to pick up relatively weak signals coming from space - could be overwhelmed when LightSquared starts sending high-power signals from as many as 40,000 transmitters.

 'Think 40,000 GPS dead spots covering millions of square miles in cities and towns throughout the U.S. ' said Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel of Trimble Navigation Ltd., which makes GPS systems

One of the biggest risks is to about 40 per cent of commercial and private planes who rely on ground-based radio signals which are not as accurate and have coverage gaps. 

Ultra-fast broadband: The new network will compute with AT &T and Verizon Wireless for customers

With GPS interference, a pilot 'may go off course and not even realize it,' said Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

LightSquared's network could also undermine the Federal Aviation Administration's multi-billion-dollar programme to upgrade the nation's air-traffic control system, which is based on World War II-era radar technology.

The new GPS-based system is more precise and lets planes fly more direct routes.  saving airlines time, money, fuel and cutting pollution.

It is also key to accommodating projected increases in airline traffic by enabling planes to fly safely closer together.

GPS is used to track and dispatch police cars, fire trucks and ambulances and many 911 systems also use it  to help locate people.

Disruptions could delay responses to emergencies, said Harlin McEwen, an official with the Inteational Association of Chiefs of Police.

Even the Pentagon has expressed conce as it relies on GPS to guide planes, ships, armoured vehicles, weapons and troops.

LightSquared plans to compete nationally with super-fast, fourth-generation wireless services being rolled out by the likes of AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

It won't sell directly to consumers, though. Instead, LightSquared will provide network access to companies including Leap Wireless, parent of the Cricket phone service, and Best Buy, which will re-brand the service under its own name.

Both LightSquared and the FCC say further testing is needed to determine the true extent of any interference.

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