LightSquared foe bias on GPS?

When Bradford Parkinson wrote to the Federal Communications Commission in August, urging the commission to scuttle LightSquared’s plans for a nationwide wireless network, he signed off as vice chairman of a board of independent experts that advises federal agencies on GPS-related matters. Here’s what he didn’t mention: Parkinson is heavily invested — to the tune of millions of dollars — in Trimble, a GPS company at the center of an all-out lobbying blitz against LightSquared in Congress and federal agencies, including the FCC.

Now LightSquared is crying foul, arguing that Washington is getting a skewed view of its business endeavor from the oft-cited Stanford professor and his colleagues on the federal advisory board. “Parkinson appears merely to have been fulfilling his fiduciary responsibility as a Trimble board member to use his reputation and credibility — and that of the federal advisory board on which he serves — to protect his company and its stock owners,” said Terry Neal, a spokesman for LightSquared. Parkinson flatly rejected any suggestion of a conflict between his position on the panel — formally named the National Space-Based Positioning Navigation & Timing Advisory Board — and his role at Trimble. He said his advice in the debate has been based on what’s best for the country.