House Ag Chairman Pledges Fight Against Ligado OK
The House Agriculture Committee has no FCC oversight authority but will use its influence to try to get the agency to reverse itself on its Ligado approval, Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said in a Keep GPS Working Coalition conference call…
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Thursday. He said stand-alone legislation undoing Ligado authorization is unlikely, given the support that approval has in some circles, but attaching something to a bill would be more probable, with the National Defense Authorization Act being the best bet. Another possibility is a limiting amendment, though that would need Senate support, said committee member G.T. Thompson, R-Pa. While 5G is important, “we need to do it in a way where we don't experience unintended consequences of a significant nature,” Thompson said, adding the FCC “has not responded appropriately.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the Ligado approval in letters last month to Peterson, Thompson and other House members. "Why the FCC approved this is beyond me," Peterson said. "There is no logical justification for what they are doing." Thompson said the farm economy is “deeply dependent” on L-band services such as GPS for precision ag and faces huge business threats from interference to GPS from Ligado's proposed low-power terrestrial broadband service. Multiple ag industry speakers raised concerns about who would bear the costs if Ligado’s system interferes with farm GPS equipment. But they indicated they aren’t likely individually to sue the FCC. Jim Kukowski, American Soybean Association Conservation and Precision Ag Committee chairman, said he hopes the coalition will put something together. Ligado and the FCC didn't comment.