Satellite Safety Alliance urges reversal of FCC Ligado Order
A new letter protesting the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Ligado Order marked the fifth anniversary of the controversial decision.
In the letter, the Satellite Safety Alliance (SSA) and 93 companies and organizations stated the need for the Ligado Order to be overturned by President Trump and Congressional leadership.
“The proposed network is designed to inappropriately use spectrum reserved for satellite communications, causing significant interference to other services,” the SSA stated. Interference with GPS is a major concern of the group.
The letter urges the president and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate armed services and commerce committees to work with the FCC on granting petitions for reconsideration that will help prevent the building of Ligado’s terrestrial wireless network.
“Ligado’s network would threaten a wide range of critical government and commercial services, including military communications, private satellite communication, GPS, agriculture, aviation, weather forecasting, and more,” the SSA stated.
“For over two decades, Ligado and its predecessors have tried and failed to build a
terrestrial network that wouldn’t harm GPS, national security, and other critical interests,” commented the SSA. “The FCC’s Ligado Order has faced unprecedented opposition, including from 14 federal agencies and over 90 organizations representing huge swaths of the economy — from aviation and agriculture to science and manufacturing. Rarely does any issue garner
agreement from such a wide and divergent group of constituencies.”
Congress found through independent analysis that the Ligado Order poses unacceptable risks of interference to GPS, satellite communications, weather forecasting, and other services, the SSA explained. “Countless federal staff hours and resources have gone to reviewing, debating, and litigating this issue. It is past time the FCC put the issue to rest by granting the pending petitions for reconsideration.”
About the Author: Tracy Cozzens
Senior Editor Tracy Cozzens joined GPS World magazine in 2006. She also is editor of GPS World’s newsletters and the sister website Geospatial Solutions. She has worked in government, for non-profits, and in corporate communications, editing a variety of publications for audiences ranging from federal government contractors to teachers.
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