LightSquared wireless Internet plan concerns officials pushing GPS for aviation

Two of 21st-century America’s favorite gadgets — the smartphone and the GPS device — are on a collision course, according to a report delivered June 3 to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The report says deployment of a massive new network of towers and satellites to expand wireless communication may effectively shut down Global Positioning System devices that are at the core of a multibillion-dollar plan to revolutionize aviation. They also may affect some GPS units used by drivers, bicyclists and boaters. The report puts the Federal Communications Commission in a Solomonesque position with two of its most cherished, ambitious and expensive initiatives. President Barack Obama has promised to make Internet access available to all Americans, even as the Administration has pushed airlines to invest billions to install GPS-based equipment.