Key House lawmaker asks FCC to kill LightSquared network

The chairman of the House committee with GPS oversight called on the Federal Communications Commission to administratively kill a broadband network planned by startup LightSquared.

Based on multiple tests of the LightSquared system to date, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, which has jurisdiction over space and satellite systems, called on FCC to rescind the conditional operational waiver it granted LightSquared in January. The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, whose membership includes other groups representing fire and police chiefs, sheriffs and ambulance operators, told FCC in a filing yesterday that the LightSquared system could interfere with a variety of public safety GPS systems, including radios, dispatch networks and cellular emergency 911 calls.