Could it still work that we could start a grass roots effort to demand that the FCC save the space based frequency for space based use? No, probably not with the amount of effort and money they are pouring into getting out the message that everything is fine now.
Really I could never figure out why there wasn't more demand that the FCC fix their screwup. Maybe most people were like me that the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines would never allow this to get through. Neither would the manufacturers. I hope most GPS users did at least as much as I did by sending letters to congressmen, but probably not.
Hey, but maybe the testing will not prove out and we will have a chance to demand change from the FCC. Maybe we should be ready for that.
Imagine this:
What if a surveyor in each city and town with a TV station did an interview about the threat to GPS? He or she had their talking points about the whole problem being the FCC attempting to allow land based use of reserved space based frequency. They would be pointing out that LightSquared should have to get the 4g frequency from the FCC properly like Verizon and AT&T have to. That will provide more money to the government and they will hire the same number of people to build their system and everyone will be fine. The space based frequency will continue to be reserved for space based use now and into the future. And of course each surveyor would have the amount that their manufacturer has paid to LightSquared and to their predecessors before them for the use of the space based frequency for GPS use. Then we could remind the interviewer that the FCC previously messed up by reassigning frequency set aside for the B1 Bomber, and give a reference for that.
Let’s have the Airline Pilots do this too.
And then get some others to do this too, like the following:
Private Pilots Farmers Rescue Volunteers
FAA Operators Manufacturers Firemen
Air Force personnel Guides Policemen
Army personnel Construction Companies BLM surveyors
Navy personnel Photogrammetrists City/County GIS personnel
Marines Helicopter Pilots Communication Companies
Really the list could go on some more with a little brain storming. Too bad we did not do this in January and February. But then again we could not believe that things would be allowed to go this far…..
Bankety, Blankety, Blank, Blank.
Hey, maybe Javad will come through with designs that will allow all the GPS to continue functioning and the FCC will not come under additional fire and LightSquared will make millions of dollars by not having to get the frequency the right way. We can all be buying the new Javad GPS equipment and everything will be fine again! Maybe some other companies that have space based frequency assignments can then sell to Verizon, AT&T, etc. Keep them coming!
Sick. Politics as usual. Would this work?
