Are We Messing Up 5G on Our Way to 6G?

Spectrum policy leadership and planning are critical to complete the US 5G ecosystem while planning for the next-generation wireless technology, 6G. It’s also essential to shed some mistakes of the past. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has indicated that a “whole of government” effort is critical to 5G leadership, and she’s right. She’s also right on the need to avoid 5G pretenders which will negatively undermine national security; Exhibit A is Ligado Networks. During the last administration, the Federal Communications Commission made a big mistake by approving an application by Ligado to let it “rezone” its satellite spectrum licenses for terrestrial use. Extensive testing from the private and public sectors has shown Ligado’s operations could cause harmful interference to the satellite communications and GPS services. After years of silence, the FCC suddenly granted Ligado’s petition, but the stark reality is that Ligado’s spectrum is poorly suited for 5G and it cannot become a real 5G company with it. The Biden FCC could help protect the integrity of America’s vital satellite communications and GPS services by freezing the 2020 Ligado order while it reconsiders this profound mistake. Even though the FCC is divided between two Democrats and two Republicans, the four commissioners could turn a new page to fix the Ligado mess while working on priorities that could actually help 5G.

[Robert McDowell served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission from 2006 to 2013. He is a partner at Cooley LLP, which has clients with an interest in the Ligado matter.]