FCC approves satellite venture Ligado’s 5G network plans despite Pentagon objections

Ligado, formerly known as LightSquared, has been working for years to deploy a low-power nationwide 5G network

The US Defense Department has ‘strongly opposed’ Ligado’s proposal on the basis that it would ‘adversely affect the military potential of GPS’

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Published: 9:47am, 21 Apr 2020Updated: 9:47am, 21 Apr 2020

The five-member Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to approve an order to allow Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power nationwide 5G network despite objections from the US Defense Department, other federal agencies and major US airlines.

The telecommunications regulator said on Monday the approval order included stringent conditions aimed at ensuring global positioning systems would not experience harmful interference.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said via Twitter on Friday that the “Ligado proposal would needlessly imperil GPS-dependent national security capabilities.”

Ligado will be able to use the L-Band spectrum, for which it holds some licenses. The L-Band is also used for GPS and other navigation systems because the signals can penetrate cloud cover.

Last Wednesday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe and the panel’s top Democrat, Jack Reed, asked President Donald Trump to bar Ligado from moving forward, citing interference with GPS reception.

Ligado, the wireless satellite venture formerly known as LightSquared that emerged from bankruptcy in 2015, has been working for years to deploy a network using spectrum in the L-Band to help telecom companies deploy 5G networks.

US private equity firm Centerbridge Partners is among Ligado’s principal owners.