WASHINGTON: It has all the hallmarks of what could have become a very embarrassing political and technical scandal. A company called LightSquared got provisional permission from the chairman of the FCC to go ahead with a 4G system that the military said — unequivocally — would jam the crucial signals from Global Positioning System satellites.

The company is politically connected and plays tough on Capitol Hill. Although tests by GPS companies and by the government’s National Telecommunications and Information Assurance Administration have demonstrated to most government officials’ satisfaction that LightSquared’s technology would jam GPS receivers and signals, the company continues to argue that the tests are questionable or that the company can fix the issues raised by the tests. Keep reading →