Iran Sees Chinese BeiDou as U.S.-controlled GPS Alternative
Iran’s Deputy ICT Minister, Ehsan Chitsaz, said disruptions to the U.S.-controlled GPS system have prompted the country to explore alternatives.
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Iran is looking at alternatives such as China's BeiDou satellite navigation system because of interference in the Global Positioning System (GPS) from within the country, said Ehsan Chitsaz, Deputy Information and Communications Technology Minister.
"Sometimes the interferences happen because of internal systems creating interference with GPS," Chitsaz told Ham-Mihan daily in an interview. "This has prompted us to study the use of replacement alternatives such as BeiDou.".
China's BeiDou is constructed as a competitor and equal to the U.S.-operated GPS.
Observing GPS's technology advantages, Chitsaz described its geopolitical vulnerability. "GPS is high-tech, but there exists a brutal fact: absolute control is in the hands of the U.S. Department of Defense," he said. "This means that any local interference, intentional interference, or degradation of service quality can be purely a matter of choice."
