FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 9, 2022
CONCT: Kelly Miller
Kelly.Miller@fticonsulting.com
GPSIA Statement on National Academies of Sciences Report
WASHINGTON, September 9, 2022– Acting Executive Director of the GPS Innovation Alliance (GPSIA), Alex Damato, issued the following statement on the release of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study on reviewing the FCC’s Ligado Order:
“GPSIA and the GPS industry applaud the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s reaffirmation that Ligado’s terrestrial operations would have a harmful, real-world impact on the millions of federal and commercial users that rely on GPS, satellite communications, and weather forecasting services every single day. The report’s evaluation of the materials, developed over years of extensive and technically rigorous testing, demonstrates that Ligado would pose an unacceptable risk to services critical to safety-of-life operations, our national security, and our economy. It also builds on the broad consensus, including within fourteen federal agencies and departments, that Ligado’s proposed deployment would result in widespread interference to a substantial number of GPS receivers.
“Following the release of this study, GPSIA urges government action to address the imminent, but preventable, harm that would result from Ligado’s deployment.”
**Consistent with the terms of their litigation settlements with Ligado, GPSIA members Deere & Company and Garmin International, Inc. do not affirmatively endorse or oppose the deployment of Ligado’s proposed communications network.**
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About GPS Innovation Alliance
Based in Washington, D.C., the GPS Innovation Alliance serves as the voice of the GPS industry, representing GPS equipment and technology manufacturers, and critical industries that rely on GPS. The Alliance recognizes the ever-increasing importance of Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technologies to the global economy and infrastructure and is firmly committed to furthering GPS innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. The GPS Innovation Alliance seeks to protect, promote and enhance the use of GPS. For more information, please visit https://www.gpsalliance.org/.