TLPS Needs More Testing in Controlled Environment, CableLabs Says

Globalstar's terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) will have a negative impact on Wi-Fi, resulting from channel 14 TLPS, CableLabs said in an ex parte notice posted at the FCC Tuesday in docket 13-213. The impact varies depending on the type of Wi-Fi equipment, it said. There was 65 percent reduction to channel 11 downlink with a residential access point, "more significant throughput degradation" than with an enterprise access point, CableLabs said. Globalstar's and CableLabs' measurements are only useful for deployment situations that Globalstar, if authorized, would use, CableLabs said. "If Globalstar would be provided the flexibility to use LTE instead of 802.11 Wi-Fi technology, or the ability to operate outdoors, or otherwise deploy TLPS in a manner not represented in the demonstration, then the utility of the demonstration data is limited," it said. There were inconsistent results with latency and jitter in the TLPS demos, likely caused by equipment setup and ambient noise, CableLabs said. "These inconsistent results demonstrate the need for further testing in a controlled environment," CableLabs said.