Ligado Networks Launching Is Rumored To Disrupt Pentagon's Old GPS

The Pentagon is disturbed by the launch of Ligado Networks. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - The US Department of Defense, known as the Pentagon as it is known, said a study released Friday, September 9, showed the planned national mobile broadband network, Ligado Networks, would interfere with the military's global positioning system (GPS) receiver.

The Federal Communications Commission voted in April 2020 to allow Ligado to deploy low-power networks. In January 2021, the FCC rejected the US government's offer to delay its decision.

A National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report released last Friday warned that some Iridium Communications mobile satellite services used by the US Department of Defense and others would experience dangerous interference under certain conditions and warned that some high-precision devices sold before 2012 could be vulnerable to interference. significant danger.

The Department of Defense said the study was consistent with its view that the Ligado system would interfere with critical GPS receivers and it would be impractical to mitigate the impact of that interference and noted the study found the FCC's proposed mitigation and replacement measures impractical, costly, and possibly ineffective.

Ligado argued the report found a small proportion of very old and poorly designed GPS devices may require upgrading.

The FCC established a 2020 program to upgrade or replace federal equipment, and we remain ready to assist any agency that applies for obsolete equipment. So far, no one has done it.

Ligado said it hoped US agencies would stop blocking Ligado's licensing authority and focus on working with Ligado to resolve potential impacts relating to all DOD systems.

Iridium said its research showed that Ligado's proposed operation would cause dangerous disruption. Iridium also urged the FCC to take swift action to reverse the order before Ligado begins its technical demonstration this fall.

The FCC did not immediately comment on the report when contacted by Reuters.

The study also found the Ligado network would not cause most commercially produced general navigation, timing, cellular, or certified aviation GPS receivers to experience harmful interference.

In May 2020, the US Department of Commerce filed a request with the FCC on behalf of branch executive agencies, including the Department of Defense and Transportation, arguing it would cause "irreparable harm to federal government users" of GPS.

The report calls on the FCC and Commerce to undertake joint testing and a more collaborative approach to solving spectrum problems.