Galileo Operability Proposal Sees Push; EC, Inmarsat Working on Interference Questions

Citing broad support for letting U.S. devices receive Galileo signals (see 1702220042), T-Mobile, Deere and Trimble are pushing for FCC approval. Meanwhile, the European Commission said it's working with Inmarsat to address the company's interference concerns. Thursday was the deadline for replies in docket 17-16 on the EC request. Instead of giving the EC a waiver, the FCC should decide the rules that require licensing of earth stations receiving signals from foreign satellites don't apply to mobile wireless user devices, T-Mobile wrote. Those rules, when adopted, were aimed at licensing of fixed services, and mobile wireless devices aren't what the FCC was contemplating then, it said, saying any protection of Galileo signals should mirror the protections given GPS. Deere and Trimble said the FCC should reject concerns about adjacent-band interference, since Galileo has transmitted in the 1559-1591 MHz band since 2006 without any reports of interference to systems operating below 1559 MHz. They said the waiver would boost positioning, timing and navigation service accuracy and dependability since Galileo could back up GPS. Inmarsat will do measurements to better assess how the Galileo system might affect its service, with the company and EC having agreed that if there's demonstrable harm to Inmarsat service the two parties will coordinate bilaterally to minimize the effects, the EC and Inmarsat wrote.