Officials urge John Deere to drop campaign against LightSquared

A group of rural public officials and farmers wrote a letter to agriculture device manufacturer John Deere last week, urging the company to drop its lobbying campaign against wireless firm LightSquared.

LightSquared plans to launch a wholesale wireless broadband service, but tests earlier this year revealed its network interferes with GPS devices. The company has since modified its plan to mitigate the interference problem, but its network would likely still cause problems for some high-precision GPS devices, which are often used in agriculture.

John Deere, which makes GPS devices, is a member of the Coalition to Save Our GPS, a group trying to stop LightSquared from deploying a network that would cause problems for GPS users.

In their letter to Deere & Company, the state officials and farmers argue that LightSquared's network could improve Internet access in rural areas.

"Your attacks on LightSquared could prevent our families from reaping the benefits of this new network," they wrote.

They urged Deere to pay to modify its GPS devices so they will work in the presence of LightSquared's signal.

"Rural Americans deserve the ability to purchase both GPS and wireless broadband devices. Our families need both technologies for an equal shot at the American dream. As your customers, we ask that you take responsibility for repairing your equipment rather than trying to stop an innovative wireless company from making life better for the American people," they wrote.

---