Saturday, March 12, 2011

Coalition to Save Our GPS

Representatives from a wide variety of industries and companies have announced that they have joined together to form the "Coalition to Save Our GPS" to resolve a serious threat to the Global Positioning System (GPS) - a national utility upon which millions of Americans rely every day.

The threat stems from a recent highly unusual decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to grant a conditional waiver allowing the dramatic expansion of terrestrial use of the satellite spectrum immediately neighboring that of GPS, potentially causing severe interference to millions of GPS receivers. The conditional waiver was granted to a company called LightSquared.

A representative of one of the founding members of the coalition, Trimble Vice President and General Counsel Jim Kirkland, will testify on this issue on Friday, March 11 before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science of the House Appropriations Committee.

The "Coalition to Save our GPS" includes representatives from a broad range of industries, including, aviation, agriculture, transportation, construction, engineering, surveying and GPS-based equipment manufacturers and service providers. Washington, D.C.-based Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld is leading the government relations effort. The Coalition's website is www.SaveOurGPS.org.

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