A controversial Federal Communications Commission decision, released during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, has raised serious concerns about the future reliability of GPS equipment used by millions of Americans. BoatU.S., the country’s largest advocacy, services and safety organization for recreational boaters, warns that the ruling could undermine navigation and safety systems across many sectors.
The FCC’s April 22 decision authorizes Ligado Networks, a privately held mobile satellite services operator, to build and operate a land-based industrial 5G network in spectrum that sits adjacent to frequencies long reserved for space-based navigation and communications. That spectrum, commonly referred to as the L-Band, lies close to lower-frequency bands used by hundreds of millions of GPS receivers in public safety, health care, government, transportation, military, commerce, agriculture and recreational activities.
BoatU.S. is a founding member of the Keep GPS Working Coalition and contends that Ligado’s proposed network could cause increasing interference with GPS signals as the new service rolls out. The coalition and its member organizations warn that ongoing or worsening interference could force users to replace existing GPS units, degrade the accuracy of navigation devices, and create potentially dangerous situations for mariners, first responders, pilots and commercial operators who depend on reliable positioning and timing information.
Critics of the FCC decision say it ignored substantial technical evidence showing the risk of interference. They note that the ruling was circulated for final approval among the five commissioners at a time when many stakeholders were distracted by the global health emergency, limiting the opportunity for full stakeholder review and public debate. Those factors intensified concerns that the decision did not reflect the breadth of technical and operational input from federal agencies and affected industries.
Numerous federal agencies and scientific organizations expressed reservations about the plan. Departments and agencies citing concerns include Defense, Transportation, Commerce, Interior, Justice and Homeland Security, as well as NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard. Pentagon officials publicly criticized the FCC action, describing it as a national security risk. These objections center on the potential for harmful interference with systems that rely on GPS-based signals for navigation, timing and safety-critical operations.
“With this decision, FCC is permitting one private company to upend the entire reliability of GPS,” said BoatU.S. Manager of Government Affairs David Kennedy. He noted that the commission acknowledged there could be situations where federal and private users would experience harmful interference, but that the decision effectively leaves those users to manage the consequences on their own. The coalition and its members see that outcome as unacceptable given the widespread dependence on precise positioning and timing across vital services.
Opponents emphasize that GPS is not a single-use technology; it underpins many interconnected systems. Even intermittent or localized interference could cascade into broader impacts—delaying emergency responses, disrupting shipping and aviation operations, complicating disaster relief and hampering everyday activities such as farming, surveying, and recreational boating. For mariners, in particular, degraded GPS performance can increase the risk of grounding, collisions, or loss of situational awareness in poor visibility or congested waterways.
Ligado has continued to develop its plans and, according to company announcements, secured new funding to advance its network strategy. The company was previously known by a different name and faced regulatory hurdles in the past related to spectrum use and potential interference with GPS systems. That history has made this decision especially controversial and explains why many industry groups, scientific bodies, and government agencies remain skeptical about the sufficiency of interference protections.
The debate highlights a broader policy challenge: balancing the need to expand wireless broadband and Internet-of-Things connectivity with the imperative to protect existing, mission-critical infrastructure. As wireless technologies proliferate and demand for spectrum grows, regulators must weigh competing priorities and ensure that safety-critical services retain the performance and reliability they require.
For now, BoatU.S. and the Keep GPS Working Coalition continue to press for stronger safeguards, clearer technical limits and remedial measures to ensure that any new terrestrial services do not degrade GPS performance. Their goal is to preserve dependable positioning and navigation capabilities for all users—commercial, governmental and recreational—who rely on GPS every day for safety, commerce and public welfare.