WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday circulated a draft order asking the five-member panel to approve Ligado Networks’ request to deploy a low-power nationwide network to support next generation 5G wireless.
Ligado’s plan has come under criticism from some Trump administration agencies and some powerful lawmakers. On Wednesday, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the panel’s top Democrat asked President Donald Trump to prevent the FCC from allowing Ligado to move forward, saying it will interfere with Global Positioning System reception. Pai said he is “convinced that the conditions outlined in this draft order would permit Ligado to move forward without causing harmful interference.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)