The FCC faces a spectrum balancing act: strengthen GPS resilience without disrupting a thriving 900 MHz unlicensed ecosystem powering critical IoT, smart infrastructure, and billions in economic value across the U.S. Olivier Beaujard at Semtech explains how.
The 902–928 MHz band is one of the most productive pieces of wireless spectrum in the United States. It powers hundreds of millions of devices that U.S. citizens and U.S. economy rely on every day – smart utility meters, home security sensors, supply chain RFID tags, agricultural monitors, and LoRaWAN IoT networks connecting cities, factories, militaries, and farms.
The FCC now has a clear opportunity to get spectrum policy right: strengthen GPS resilience for the nation while preserving the unlicensed ecosystem that has delivered enormous economic and societal value. The industry is engaged, Congress is listening and the regulatory process is working as it should.
What NextNav is proposing
Since April 2024, NextNav has been asking the FCC for a 15 MHz nationwide license in the lower 900 MHz band – spectrum currently shared freely under unlicensed (Part 15) rules. The company claims it would build a terrestrial 5G-based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) network as a backup to GPS.
GPS resilience is a legitimate national priority. The U.S. does need credible alternatives to satellite-based navigation. The question the FCC must answer is not whether to pursue that goal, but how to do so without unnecessary disruption to infrastructure that already serves millions of Americans.
A band that is already working hard
The lower 900 MHz band is not empty spectrum waiting to be allocated. It is a working foundation for industries across the economy.
LoRaWAN connects critical infrastructure across smart cities and supply chains. These are not hypothetical figures – they reflect real, deployed infrastructure built under stable and well-established spectrum rules. The LoRa Alliance represents tens of millions of deployed LoRaWAN devices, projected to grow to hundreds of millions by 2029.
For example, the Edison Electric Institute estimates that replacing affected smart utility meters would cost ratepayers over $100 billion. Z-Wave devices powering security systems in one in four American homes would be affected.
The RFID coalition argues that introducing high-power 5G operations into a band built around low-power coexistence could create interference, stranded investment, and major economic harm, including estimated RFID replacement costs of $5.0 to $7.2 billion.
Across all technologies sharing this band – RFID, Z-Wave smart home devices, Wi-Fi HaLow, industrial sensors – the cumulative economic stake runs well into the tens of billions of dollars.
Technical picture calls for a better approach
NextNav argues its 5G network and existing Part 15 devices can coexist. Independent engineering analysis raises legitimate questions about that claim.
A study commissioned by the RAIN Alliance identified significant interference risks that NextNav’s own analysis did not fully address – the company’s original FCC filing examined only two of eight relevant interference scenarios.
Analysts at Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute have further noted that NextNav’s actual PNT use case may require as little as 5% of the 15 MHz it is requesting, suggesting the proposal goes well beyond what the technical mission demands.
These are exactly the kinds of questions the regulatory process exists to resolve – and the process is doing its job.
Strong industry and congressional alignment
The breadth of stakeholder engagement on this proceeding is itself a signal. Nearly 2,000 parties filed comments with the FCC to oppose NextNav proposal. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, public safety advocates, utilities, retailers, and healthcare providers have all weighed in with a consistent message: preserve the Part 15 ecosystem.
In April 2026, the House Appropriations Committee agreed on an amendment to prohibit the FCC from using funds to advance any rulemaking that would reconfigure or repurpose the 900 MHz band.
On June 4, 2026, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on U.S. PNT capabilities. Multiple witnesses and members of Congress raised substantive concerns about the impact of NextNav’s proposal on constituents’ safety systems, utility networks and IoT deployments. That level of bipartisan attention reflects how much is at stake — and how seriously Washington is taking the industry’s input.
A smarter path to GPS resilience
The good news is that GPS backup can be achieved without touching the lower 900 MHz band at all.
Existing bands – including the 800 MHz cellular band – already support 3GPP-standardized technologies capable of delivering terrestrial PNT services. Lifting outdated airborne and operational restrictions in those bands could accelerate GPS backup deployment faster and with far less disruption than reworking a heavily used unlicensed band from scratch.
The FCC has opened a broader Notice of Inquiry into PNT alternatives — this is the right approach. It positions the agency to evaluate all viable options, validate technical claims rigorously, and arrive at a solution that serves both national security and the innovation economy. NTIA has listed many terrestrial and space solutions outside NextNav that could serve as complementary GPS solution.
The lower 900 MHz band has flourished because it was never captured by a single interest. The FCC has every reason – and strong support from industry and Congress – to keep it that way.
Olivier Beaujard is Senior Director in charge of the LoRa Alliance at Semtech. He is also the Chair on the LoRa Alliance Board of Directors.
