Ligado Opposition Is Spectrum NIMBYism, Groups Say
The FCC, not NTIA or other agencies, is final word on commercial use of spectrum and the sole arbiter of what constitutes harmful interference under federal law, said Public Knowledge, Access Humboldt, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and New…
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America's Open Technology Institute in a docket 11-109 posting Monday. They responded to NTIA's lack of endorsement of Ligado's sought-after license modifications (see 1912090011). The signers urged FCC approval, saying lack of technical justification for the concerns "appears to be a classic case of spectrum NIMBY." The 1 dB standard interference measure DOD and NTIA proposed is contrary to FCC precedent and its approval would discourage federal agencies from "endless delays on the basis of vague concerns [and] an utter absence of substantive engineering analysis," they said. Ligado in a posting to be filed said Ericsson and Nokia L-band technical studies point to Ligado spectrum helping tackle coverage challenges of high-frequency 5G deployments. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, Citizens Against Government Waste, FreedomWorks, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, American Enterprise Institute Visiting Scholar Roslyn Layton and Center for Growth and Opportunity Senior Director Christopher Koopman urged Ligado license modifications approval. That will "send a clear signal to the world that the U.S. is a force in 5G," says their coming filing. They said numerous agencies in numerous spectrum proceedings have tried to block spectrum being made available in the market but the FCC "has the authority -- and the responsibility -- to take decisive action."