How is GPS free?

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GPS has made a major impact on our world. How is it a free service that anyone with a phone can access? How is it profitable for companies to offer services like navigation without subscription fees or ads?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

GPS “receivers” are just radios that listen to broadcasts by specific satellites, and then use some math to calculate the location.

There is no back and forth data transmission at all. So there is no capacity limit and no extra costs for more users.

The US government created GPS as a military program. It would likely still be maintained even if no civilians used it, just like it was before it was opened up to the public.

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