US: Agencies ask FCC to rescind Ligado spectrum decision

A group of US agencies on Friday asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reconsider its unanimous April 22 decision to allow Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power nationwide mobile broadband network, saying it could pose a threat to global positioning systems (GPS). The US Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration filed a request on behalf of executive branch agencies, including the Defense and Transportation departments, saying the approval will cause “irreparable harms to federal government users” of GPS. It asked the FCC to “prevent Ligado from deploying its network until this petition is addressed and harmful interference concerns are resolved.” The Air Line Pilots Association, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, International Air Transport Association and Airlines for America, Iridium Communications and Lockheed Martin this week also filed petitions asking the FCC to reconsider. The wireless satellite venture said “the Department of Defense, its contractors, and their special interest lobbyists have blanketed the Hill to spread misinformation and distort the exhaustive, engineering, and fact-driven process that the FCC, under two administrations, led. GPS will not be harmed.”<br/>