TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite operator Ligado Networks, already suing the U.S. government over its stalled 5G plans, has filed a lawsuit against Viasat’s Inmarsat subsidiary for allegedly breaching their long-standing L-band spectrum partnership.
Two days after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Ligado said in a Jan. 7 news release that it is seeking financial damages and restitution for more than $1.7 billion paid to Inmarsat under their 2007 cooperation agreement.
According to Ligado, in addition to providing L-band spectrum over North America to give its planned terrestrial 5G service a larger, contiguous swath of radio waves, Inmarsat was obligated to upgrade its satellite terminals to avoid interfering with the network.
Ligado claims Inmarsat did not resolve terminal interference issues, delaying and ultimately restricting the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) approval for the network in 2020 near airports and waterways.
Mounting GPS interference concerns from industry and government agencies later derailed Ligado’s ground-based 5G ambitions entirely.
“Over a 17-year period, Ligado paid Inmarsat over $1.7 billion in fees, while Inmarsat willfully avoided performing its contractual duties to upgrade its own satellite terminals,” Ligado CEO Doug Smith said in a statement.
“In fact, due to its choice to delay upgrading its terminals, Inmarsat is likely still years away from completing the upgrades required under the Agreement.”
A spokesperson for U.S.-based Viasat, which bought Inmarsat last year to expand its broadband network globally in multiple orbits and spectrum bands, said the legal filing “has absolutely no legal merit and is replete with unfounded allegations of fact.”
The spokesperson said the company will “vigorously defend against this transparent tactic filed in connection with Ligado’s bankruptcy filing,” but declined to comment further.
Ligado also alleges that Inmarsat has not delivered portions of spectrum outlined in their cooperation agreement.
Expanded legal action
Ligado has cited a misinformation campaign about its proposed network’s potential to interfere with GPS devices, launching legal action last year against the U.S. government and several federal agencies, alleging they obstructed its efforts in favor of Department of Defense use of the frequencies.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.
In its complaint against Inmarsat, Ligado alleges the operator likely knew it would not be able to use the spectrum because of the DoD but still accepted payments under the cooperation agreement.
Although Ligado’s terrestrial mobile plans have stalled, the company continues to provide connectivity services to government and enterprise customers across North America through its SkyTerra-1 and MSAT-2 geostationary satellites and specialized ground terminals
Ligado plans to continue these services during its voluntary Chapter 11 restructuring, which aims to convert $7.8 billion of debt into equity and reduce total debt to $1.2 billion.
The company announced its restructuring plan Jan. 6 alongside a potential agreement to lease its spectrum holdings to low Earth orbit satellite operator AST SpaceMobile, which aims to use the radio waves to improve proposed direct-to-smartphone connectivity services.
