Ligado’s $39B lawsuit against federal government can move forward, judge rules

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ruled that Ligado Networks can move forward with its lawsuit against the US government, a major win for the communications company.

In October 2023, Ligado sued the government for $39 billion over claims that officials at the Departments of Defense and Commerce took “unlawful actions” to, in effect, improperly seize without compensation the firm’s L-band spectrum. In January, the government had asked a judge to dismiss the suit.

Today Judge Edward J. Damich of the US Federal Claims Court ruled in part in favor of Ligado and in part for the government over aspects of the case, but ultimately said the case “may proceed.”

“Ligado is encouraged by the decision and looks forward to pursuing its case to hold the government accountable for the just compensation it owes the company.,” a Ligado spokesperson said in an email.

“In the Order, the Court agrees with Ligado’s position that the spectrum bands it was licensed to use by the FCC are property vis-à-vis the Department of Defense,” per the statement. “Accordingly, and as long argued by Ligado, the Department’s unauthorized occupation of the spectrum, which has blocked Ligado’s ability to use its own property, is a constitutional taking that must be compensated by the government.”

The ruling marks the latest episode in the decades-long drama over Ligado’s plan to use L-band spectrum to develop a wireless cell phone network, which the Departments of Defense, Commerce, Transportation and a number of other federal agencies insist could interfere with signals from the Global Position Satellite (GPS) network. In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted over department objections to grant Ligado the license to build a 5G network.

GPS is used by myriad military weapon systems; the US air traffic control network; trains, planes and automobiles for navigation; and everyday citizens trying to find their way from here to there using interactive maps on their cell phones. The concern from defense officials has been that it will impact everything from soldiers trying to navigate on the ground to missile guidance systems.

One complication for Ligado, according to expert Tim Farrar, is the Pentagon has not revealed which specific systems the department believes are at risk due to classification, so the firm has been hamstrung in mounting a counterargument.

The Senate Armed Services Committee in June included language in the National Defense Authorization Act that would force the Pentagon to reveal that information, but it is unknown if that language will survive the final NDAA negotiations, currently ongoing.

Farrar, an independent consultant on spectrum issues, told Breaking Defense, “This is what it comes down: Is there going to be some justification for Ligado’s claim of occupation, and if this will be a fight over the provision in the policy bill, because that’s what would provide Ligado with the leverage to discover some evidence to support that claim.”

Outside of the courtroom, Ligado’s situation may end up being very different following the electoral victory of president-elect Donald Trump.

Under Trump’s first administration, key administration officials pushed hard to open up the spectrum in order to boost economic growth. Leading the pushback at the time on behalf of the Pentagon was then-SASC chairman Jim Inhofe. However, Roger Wicker, the Republican from Missouri widely expected to take over the SASC leadership come January, was more sanguine about the situation, perhaps a sign that there will be less Senate pushback on Ligado’s spectrum moves going forward.

Notably, Trump has announced he will nominate FCC member Brendon Carr as his FCC chair. In 2020, Carr, along with the rest of the FCC, voted to support Ligado’s application, and he was a vocal supporter of opening up spectrum for economic benefits. (Carr is also reportedly close to Elon Musk, who has sought to reduce oversight of systems such as the SpaceX Starlink satellite network, another issue that falls under the FCC.)

“This was an internal Trump administration back and forth last time around, and we’ll have to see what the positions are of people in this administration,” said Farrar. “Ultimately, its going to be down to this administration to settle Ligado’s claim, if it does need to be settled.”

Theresa Hitchens contributed to this report.