NextNav CEO Urges FCC Action on Terrestrial Alternative to GPS
NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond urged the FCC to move forward on the company’s proposal to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz band, enabling what it called a “high-quality, terrestrial complement” to GPS for positioning, navigation and timing services (see 2404160043). “Since former…
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President George W. Bush first acknowledged the need to build GPS redundancy in 2004, every presidential administration has recognized the problem,” Sorond said Tuesday in Forbes. GPS signals are “easily disrupted by intentional spoofing and jamming, and even by unintentional interference,” she wrote: “These signals weaken as they approach Earth -- a vulnerability we’ve seen exploited on the battlefield -- and threaten civilian industries in Europe and the Middle East.” GPS signals also struggle “indoors and in urban canyons, posing challenges for first responders trying to locate people in emergencies.” GPS is also an economic issue, she said. “A one-day loss of GPS could cost the U.S. economy an estimated $1.6 billion, according to a Brattle Group report.”