Lightsquared Accuses U.S. Agencies Of Collusion and Bias

Lightsquared officials complained to NASA’s Investigator General on Friday that Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board member Dr. Brad Parkinson was biased against the company and engaged in collusion because of his director position at GPS firm Trimble.

According to Lightsquared when investigation the company’s proposed 4G LTE network Trimble “deliberately” excluded LightSquared from testing in a questionable deal with the government.

Lightsquared executives then noted that an approval was unlikely from the very start because of certain corporate interests in the GPS sector.

Lightsquared wrote in its complaint:

“In retrospect, it was highly unlikely that PNT[‘s Executive Committee], the Advisory Board and the testing they oversaw would ever be able to deliver on their obligation to provide a fair and unbiased assessment … Its membership simply has too much at stake.”

The complaint was filed after government officials revealed that LightSquared technology interferes with 75% of GPS services, while LightSquared claims that the issue is with GPS equipment that doesn’t do enough to stay within its own spectrum allotment. LightSquared officials have asked that GPS equipment manufacturers offer an immediate fix so they can proceed with network testing.

The company goes on to state that a lawsuit might be in the future to “protect its legal rights” to operate under the spectrum it purchased.

At this point the company desperately needs a positive outcome in some way, Sprint Wireless recently suspended development with the company on a 30-day basis but has promised to continue its relationship should the spectrum issue yield positive results.

Do you think LightSquared has a valid case?