"Confining its operation to the lower MSS band still interferes with many critical GPS receivers in addition to the precision receivers that even LightSquared concedes will be affected," the group said in a statement attributed to Jim Kirkland, vice president and general counsel of Trimble. "It is time for LightSquared to move out of the MSS band."

"This latest gambit by LightSquared borders on the bizarre," the coalition said.

LightSquared's proposed operations in the lower band might have to undergo that was required for its current plan, said analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. LightSquared and an advisory group from the GPS community took about three months to develop a test plan, carry out tests and collect data in that case.

A shift to another frequency band might also force makers of future LTE mobile devices back to the drawing board to adjust them for the new band, said Phil Marshall, an analyst at Tolaga Research.

LightSquared already has a spectrum leasing agreement with Inmarsat, which controls the lower 10MHz band that the company would start using under the new plan. Last year the company announced it would pay Inmarsat a total of US$337.5 million to cover the first phase of that deal. LightSquared had planned to move into that lower band as demand for capacity grew over the next few years.