Controversial Rules Surrounding Ligado Spectrum Allocation

May 2021: Ligado, an American communications company, received approval from the FCC in 2020 to build a terrestrial 5G network which will operate in the spectrum adjacent to GPS. Many worry that Ligado’s network will inadvertently jam GPS receivers because the frequencies are near one another and Ligado’s signals will be much stronger. Interestingly, the FCC only requires Ligado to pay for accidental damages to federal GPS users. This has sparked a wave of controversy, considering that private companies would also suffer substantial losses if their GPS-dependent systems are disrupted. Read the article from RealClearMarkets here.