Ligado’s Wireless Plans Caught In 5G Agency Crossfire

Ligado Networks LLC’s plan to develop some of the nation’s most valuable airwaves is being undercut by disagreements between US regulators over the deployment of 5G technology—miring the company’s business in a holding pattern and pressuring its finances. Ligado, the wireless venture formerly known as LightSquared Inc., has waited more than 1,200 days for permission to repurpose a swath of wireless spectrum that has emerged as a sticking point as federal agencies debate whether and how to build out proposed 5G networks. The Federal Communications Commission has the final say on these proposals and has signaled a willingness to proceed. Ligado said in a petition to the FCC on June 25 that other US officials are, “for whatever reason,” fighting 5G deployment. “The holdup appears to be a debate about politics—one that pits the expert agency designated by Congress to make spectrum decisions against certain parts of the executive branch,” the petition said.

The Commerce Department and other agencies have warned that rising commercial spectrum use threatens to scramble readings from weather satellites and affect storm forecasts. Weather researchers who rely on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data have raised similar interference concerns about Ligado’s proposal. FCC Chairman AJit Pai said at a hearing earlier in June that interagency turf battles had intensified since the departure last month of David Redl, a top Commerce Department official on a range of 5G-related issues, who favored speeding up the rollout.