At issue is the radio frequency used by the two technologies. They are very close in the spectrum with GPS at 1559-1610 megahertz and 4G wireless is at 1525-1559, what is called the “L” band.

Up to this point there has not been a problem, but as LightSquared builds more base stations their signal will get stronger and it might interfere. Jeff Carlisle of LightSquared is quoted as saying, “The issue is that some GPS receivers may be able to see into the L band where we operate.” Engineers with Garmin say that the 4G base stations will cause “jamming” in a lot of areas.

To compare the issue, current 4G doesn’t interfere because it is like having only one person talking softly in a corner while you are trying to listen to the dialogue in a movie. You can filter them out if they don’t get too loud. But add ten people talking softly around you and you have a problem. Carlisle says the problem is that GPS receivers like those from Garmin actually bleed over into the 4G spectrum. In other words their ears are just too sensitive.

So which would you rather have – the ability to be directed to where you are going and see where you currently are or the ability to download data at 5-10 megabits per second, which is many times faster than current rates?

The FCC has approved LightSquared’s plans already. So we may see some severe GPS interference in the coming years.

4G Wireless Phones will Interfere with GPS Getting You Lost is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

The refund, which the N.Y. Times calls one of the largest ever by a telecom company, affects up to 15 million customers who owned a flip phone that, with the accidental push of a direction arrow, could easily connect to the Internet and result in a $1.99 charge for each month it happened. Customers with smartphones or a data plan were not affected by this issue.

The refunds will begin to appear on the bills of affected customers on their October or November bill. The large refund stems from a FCC investigation which began last January and appears to be a move by Verizon to get out ahead of any sanctions by the FCC.

Verizon issued a statement about the refunds, a portion of which is excerpted below:

“As we reviewed customer accounts, we discovered that over the past several years approximately 15 million customers who did not have data plans were billed for data sessions on their phones that they did not initiate. These customers would normally have been billed at the standard rate of $1.99 per megabyte for any data they chose to access from their phones. The majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones; others included accessing certain web links, which should not have incurred charges. We have addressed these issues to avoid unintended data charges in the future.”

It is good to see Verizon refunding these charges, but based on the estimated size of refunds ranging from $30-$90 million and the size of the affected customer base, 15 million, that it should have been detected and refunded sooner. Then again, Verizon was probably happy to “borrow” this large pot of money to invest in infrastructure rather than “fix” a cash cow quickly.

Verizon Refunding Up to $90 Million in Data Charges is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The TV white spaces are the area of the radio spectrum between the frequencies used by television broadcasters. All broadcasters use radio waves that have a frequency of vibration. Different signals do not interfere if they are on a difference frequency. It is like having a highway with different lanes. Stay in your lane and you won’t wreck with the drives in the other lane. Many companies have been begging the FCC for the right to use the space between the lanes” in the TV highway.” Two years ago they initially said yes, but delayed until all parties could take part in the debate. Now the FCC has made a final decision and now final steps can take place to make Super Wi-Fi” a reality using the space between the TV channels.

The groups who opposed this decision did so for fear of interference. One group was television broadcasters your local ABC station for example.  Another group was made up of makers and users of wireless microphones which were operating in the spectrum. Both groups opposed the original attempt by the FCC two years ago. But after investigation and allowing all parties to comment, the agency voted 5-0 to open  up the spectrum so that companies longing to develop the white spaces like Google, Microsoft and Dell. In response, Google has given the agency their kudos at their Public Policy Blog.

What all of this means to the average user is a company, like Google, can now create devices or develop tools that will use this spectrum. For example, a new high-powered Wi-Fi system that, instead of converging just a portion of one building could now conceivably cover the entire campus of a small school or college. Devices that struggle to achieve a wireless connection because of thick walls could now achieve a connection through multiple thick walls and even across multiple buildings, since the radio waves in the TV White Space doesn’t just travel dozens of feet, but a couple of miles. Also the radio signals could be used to create much broader and therefore much faster data connection speeds. Imagine Gigabit wireless transfer speeds.

The good news for those who wish to develop for these white spaces, the frequencies will be unlicensed. Some frequencies, like those that broadcast TV and commercial radio signals require a license. These will not; so an average user can use equipment that creates a wireless network without paying the FCC for the rights.

Chairman Genachowski and his fellow Commissioners deserve ample credit for adopting rules that ultimately will put better and faster wireless broadband connections in the hands of the public. We’re glad to see that the FCC appears to have rejected calls to enact burdensome and unnecessary constraints that would have made it more difficult to deploy useful technologies on these airwaves. Instead, the Commission has put forward common-sense rules that will help encourage innovation, while fully safeguarding incumbent signals from interference. (from Google’s Public Policy Blog)

One of the rules mentioned by Google is a database of locations where people are using frequencies that are close to those in the TV white space. That will ensure that your local ABC station won’t have interference because a neighbor has a strong signal too close to their frequency. This database of current users must be in place before companies and people can develop technologies that take advantage of the white spaces. A drawback is users of older wireless microphone systems may have interference and need replacement once the spectrum is in use.

Super Wi-Fi Now Possible Thanks to FCC Ruling is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

On the 10th Anniversary of the schools Laptop program, which equips students with Lenovo R400 laptops as part of their tuition, NMU announced that with the help of Intel, Lenovo, Motorola and the FCC it has covered close to 100% of the college town in WiMAX; providing students with on campus access anywhere in town.

WiMAX is a 4G data connection that provides high speed connections over a large area with speeds that typically exceed the limitations of the 3G data devices widely available from cell phone companies. The current laptops provided to incoming students will feature WiMAX connection built right in and students who have the older Lenovo R61 laptops can purchase a USB WiMAX dongle or borrow one from the library.

From a student perspective this is really cool! I can’t recall the number of times I missed having access to campus-only resources while I was out and about town. Even today as I work on a college campus, I can’t fathom how students handle off campus access since they lack the ability to VPN into campus like faculty and staff are able to. Academic uses aside; students can take full advantage of online video sites like Hulu, upload to YouTube, download new music and update their Facebook pages anywhere in town without the need for a costly data plan!

The students at NMU are incredibly lucky to have access to campus resources through a WiMAX data connection which is something plenty of geeks, myself included, would love to have. Hopefully joint ventures like the one at NMU will provide more communities, colleges and businesses with access to WiMAX and provide greater infrastructure for the service as it matures.

NMU Provides Lenovo R400′s and WiMAX to Students is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.