EchoStar and Ligado Spectrum Deals Incentivize Warehousing: Cyber Expert
EchoStar's proposed sale of its AWS-4 and H-block spectrum licenses to SpaceX (see 2509080052) rewards the company for spectrum warehousing, wrote Matthew Glavy, the former head of the Marine Corps Cyberspace Command, in Saturday's Washington Examiner. Ligado is following the same model, sitting on unused spectrum and then trying to flip it for big profits, he said, and the FCC should resist the temptation to let Ligado consummate a spectrum deal with AST SpaceMobile.
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"The ensuing precedent would possibly be even more dangerous than the one set by EchoStar" since that company "had a plausible intent to deploy services," while Ligado's plan from the beginning was apparently to flip the spectrum rights. If the FCC lets Ligado get a payout from AST, it "sends a message that only firms with the deep pockets to pay the warehouser’s ransom can participate in the space economy," Glavy said. The agency should reject a Ligado/AST spectrum deal "and instead allow all satellite operators to apply to use the spectrum."
He added that Omnispace's S-band holdings are also "materially underutilized."