April 7, 2017–Ligado Networks LLC today touted the benefits of its planned LTE network in the wake of criticism about whether it would cause interference to other spectrum users. In a column run by “The Hill” newspaper, Valerie Green, Ligado’s executive vice president and chief legal officer, said Ligado has “worked with GPS companies to address their concerns — agreeing to significantly lower our power, while also limiting our out-of-band-emissions and forgoing terrestrial use of a portion of spectrum closest to GPS. Because we worked together to address these concerns, we’re pleased to have co-existence agreements with five top GPS manufacturers. With broad support and partnership for our approach, we are in the final stages and readying plans for deployment.

“One thing anyone who has spent time in Washington knows is change is hard. In recent days, we’ve been attacked by an incumbent company that apparently views Ligado’s new technology as a threat to its business. We know that’s how the game works, and as we’ve always done, we’ll continue to answer attacks with facts,” said Ms. Green, referring to Iridium Communications, Inc., which has expressed concerns that Ligado’s network would cause harmful interference to its mobile satellite service.  “And the fact is, building this network is good for America and important for our future. Study after study has shown it can be done safely and effectively, and a broad coalition of public and private stakeholders is working with us to get the job done. For anyone who still has concerns, we’ve made it clear that our door is always open.”

Ms. Green added, “We’ve followed regular order every step of the way by having all the analyses and study results on record at the Federal Communications Commission for all the world to see. We’ve brought many public and private entities together, because we care about getting this done the right way. We understand the importance of our nation’s limited spectrum and the need to use it efficiently. That’s why we’ve worked hard to ensure that critical spectrum applications can coexist successfully and that we use what we have as efficiently as possible.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily