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FCC Paves the Way For Improved GPS Accuracy (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) paved the way for improved GPS and location accuracy today, approving an order that will allow U.S. phones to access a European satellite system. The order allows non-federal consumer devices to access the European Union's version of GPS, which is also known as Galileo. The system is available globally, and it officially went live in 2016. By opening up access, devices that can retrieve a signal from both Galileo and the U.S. GPS system will see improved timing estimates and location reliability. The iPhone 8 was the first Apple product to support it. Other phone models from Huawei and Samsung support the system, too. "Since the debut of the first consumer handheld GPS device in 1989, consumers and industry in the United States have relied on the U.S. GPS to support satellite-based positioning, navigation, and timing services that are integral to everyday applications ranging from driving directions to precision farming," the FCC said in a release. Now, the U.S. system will be able to commingle with the European one, making the way for better reliability, range, and accuracy.
"Allow" access to broadcast signals? What authority does the FCC have to prevent reception in the first place? Also, the summary is notably lacking any mention of the Russian GLONASS system, which many smartphones support in addition to GPS.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
The developer of the GPStest app elaborates on that in a blog post:
https://galileognss.eu/why-gal...
According to the FCC a phone receviing a Galileo signal is a ground station in contact with foreign satellites, which is only allowed with after a lengthy FCC approval process
https://techcrunch.com/2018/11...
Apparently in October 2013, the EU applied to the FCC to allow reception of Galileo signals in the US. Apparently, the FCC has now partially granted (bands E1 and E5), partially denied (band E6) this request (http://insidegnss.com/fcc-poised-to-approve-broad-use-of-galileo-in-u-s/).
Yes, the FCC is aware that people in the US are already receiving signals from foreign satellites without asking the FCC first:
"it becomes clear that many devices in the United States are already operating with foreign signals. But nowhere in our record is there a good picture of how many devices in this country are interacting with these foreign satellite systems, what it means for compliance with our rules, and what it means for the security of our systems." (Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel)