NTIA backs Pentagon on Ligado 5G license

The Commerce Department is asking the Federal Communications Commission to reverse a plan to permit a commercial 5G provider to set up shop in spectrum adjacent to the global positioning system.

On May 22, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce subcomponent that manages civilian federal spectrum, formally asked the FCC to rescind license approval to Ligado its planned network would "cause irreparable harm to federal government users" of GPS.

NTIA said it was acting at the request of the Defense Department and the Department of Transportation.

The FCC unanimously approved Ligado's bid for spectrum license in April, provided the company moved to protect GPS spectrum with spectrum band buffers and low powered terrestrial network base stations.

NTIA's May 22 requests are the latest salvo in the battle over the use of L Band spectrum Ligado wants to use to build a national 5G/Internet of Things network. DOD and the DOT have ramped up their objections to the plans and license in the last few weeks because they say the company's spectrum is too close to crucial GPS bands used by the military and needed for future transportation applications.

In a May 6 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, DOD officials said Ligado's terrestrial-based network would overwhelm space-based GPS transmissions even with guard bands and low power base stations in place.

NTIA's latest filings again assert the planned network will substantially interfere with GPS.