As nice as Pai: FCC chairman comes out in favour of Ligado Networks' 5G proposal, despite criticism from airlines and military
- Reference: 1587125832
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/17/fcc_chairman_comes_out_in/
- Source link:
The US industry watchdog has circulated a draft letter asking individual FCC members to approve the firm's plans, with "stringent" conditions attached.
"After many years of consideration, it is time for the FCC to make a decision and bring this proceeding to a close," [1]wrote Pai [PDF] .
"We have compiled an extensive record, which confirms that it is in the public interest to grant Ligado's application while imposing stringent conditions to prevent harmful interference. The draft order that I have presented to my colleagues would make more efficient use of underused spectrum and promote the deployment of 5G and Internet of Things services."
This is despite vocal protests from the airline industry and the US Defense Department.
The biggest thorn in Ligado Networks' plans is its proposed use of the L-band spectrum, which the IEEE defines as ranging from 1Ghz to 2Ghz.
The L-Band is less susceptible to "rain fade," where signals are degraded by atmospheric rain, snow, and ice. It can easily penetrate cloud cover. And because they have low frequency ranges, a single antenna can cover longer distances.
Consequently, every satellite-based location technology — from the US GPS system, to Galileo, GLONASS, and BeiDou — uses the L-Band. And that's without mentioning the myriad of military uses for the spectrum.
There are fears that Ligado's nationwide 5G network could interfere with existing systems, particularly those used for aircraft navigation.
From the private sector, FedEx, Delta, Lockheed Martin, and JetBlue have all filed a petition seeking to dismiss Ligado Networks' proposal. If approved, this would force the firm to re-apply from scratch.
LightSquared shuffles away from GPS bands [2]READ MORE
And on Wednesday, a bipartisan group of senators from the Armed Services Committee [3]wrote to US prez Donald Trump , asking him to use stop the proposals from going forward.
"Ligado's planned usage will likely harm military capabilities, particularly for the U.S. Space Force, and have major impact on the national economy. Further, this plan would cost taxpayers billions of dollars to replace current GPS equipment, which could be rendered useless, and would force American families and businesses to use foreign space-based navigation and timing systems to replace the functions of GPS. This is fundamentally a bad deal for America’s national and economic security, and the timing could not be worse," they wrote.
Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner has described the timing of the current move as being a "poisoned chalice" for Ligado itself, telling [4]Light Reading that the company formerly known as [5]LightSquared would need to raise some serious cash (possibly a big ask in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis) for buildout for its ostensible move to use the spectrum for industrial IoT services. Others speculate it could be pushed to sell its L-band holdings.
Ligado has adjusted its plans to limit any potential interference, with its application amended to reduce the power of its terrestrial base stations by 99.3 per cent. It also plans to use 23Mhz of spectrum as a "guard band" to protect neighbouring systems. But despite that, it's clear the military and airlines are yet to be convinced. ®
Sponsored: [6]Choosing A Low-Code Vendor
[1] https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-363765A1.pdf
[2] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/21/lightsquared_gps/
[3] https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/press-releases/inhofe-reed-and-thornberry-urge-president-to-prevent-fcc-from-approving-ligado-bandwidth-request
[4] https://www.lightreading.com/5g/ligado-receives-poisoned-chalice/d/d-id/758960?
[5] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/21/lightsquared_gps/
[6] https://go.theregister.co.uk/tl/1936/-8579/choosing-a-low-code-vendor?td=wptl1936
Pai paid per pie?
See title.
If the lockdown goes on much longer, American industry will have to start laying off members of Congress and the Senate.
"If the lockdown goes on much longer, American industry will have to start laying off members of Congress and the Senate."
Nah, they'll find a way to pass a bill to pay them out with cold hard cash so that they can continue doing the important work of passsing bills to pay them out in cold hard cash.
F*** the f-ing military.
F*** the military.
If anyone in the f-ing world came up with something that would destroy every piece of tech the US military has today, I'd go buy stock in it right the f*** now.
F** our troops. F*** the orange sh*tgibbon.
That said, I'd prefer not to interfere with non-military aircraft radar. That's actually kind of important.
Military? Let the f***ing scumbags crash and f***ing die.
Re: F*** the f-ing military.
Reg Rant Score: 93/100.
Points deducted for asterisks. Further points deducted for inconsistent use of asterisks and dashes.
However, a fair attempt. Please take note for further improvement.
Re: F*** the f-ing military.
Rabid yet curiously self-censoring at the same time. That takes some effort.
So, is it just the US military you f***ing hate, or all militaries?
And you realise of a lot of civilian infrastructure depends on those same miltary technologies you'd like to see crushed? GPS ain't just for positioning. A boatload of things use it for timings in everyday life.
William Barr and Pai worked together at Verizon. Barr worked for a legal company that represented Lightsquared, now known as Ligado. So while DOJ may have objections, Barr will overrule those objections and push this through. Simple as that.
This just gets better and better.
"with "stringent" conditions attached"
Does the flow of bulging brown envelopes count as a "stringent" condition?
Regression
Is there anything at all in America that isn't going rapidly in a downward direction?
I wouldn't mind (apart from the harm to my friends over there) but it screws up everyone else.
Who needs Huawei....
when you have the corrupt FCC taking down the military.
Still, at least it's US money.