FCC Opens Inquiry into GPS Backup

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2025 – The Federal Communications Commission moved Thursday to open an inquiry into alternatives or backups to the Global Positioning System.

“Our communications networks, our military, our driving directions, you name it, all rely on GPS to provide position, navigation, and timing data,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said. “This proceeding is a big deal.”

The notice of inquiry the agency adopted will look for comment on both potential satellite and terrestrial PNT systems, which the agency and lawmakers have said is necessary in case GPS signals are disrupted. The system currently runs on government satellites.

On the space-based front, the draft notice circulated this month pointed to low-earth orbit satellite systems, which fly closer to the earth and are generally more numerous than current GPS satellites. The agency pointed to some companies that are already using LEOs for PNT services, including a company called TrustPoint that’s under contract with the Space Force to demonstrate a more resilient GPS alternative.

Elon Musk, the billionaire acting as a close adviser to President Donald Trump, owns and controls LEO operator SpaceX. The company isn’t currently providing a PNT service.

The agency said it was interested in exploring solutions proposed by NextNav, a geolocation company that’s proposed reorganizing the 900 MegaHertz band to allow it to provide a terrestrial GPS supplement and 5G broadband. Some utility companies and transportation agencies, which currently share the band with NextNav, have opposed the idea, citing fears of interference.

“We’re looking forward to working closely with the Chairman, Commissioners, and broader stakeholder community to accelerate the deployment of resilient, complementary technologies that build important redundancies into a system we rely on every day,” NextNav CEO Mariam Sorond said in a statement after the vote.

That’s not the FCC’s only consideration for a ground-based system, though. The draft notice also floated using existing TV broadcast infrastructure and mobile broadband networks, which are already able to collect some of the necessary data, or a maritime and aviation navigation framework that it said would likely require building new infrastructure to implement.

The draft item asked about a range of considerations for a potential solution, like required equipment and spectrum resources and whether the system should be private or government-run. Officials didn’t note any major changes between the draft and the approved item.

The agency also adopted items proposing both to expand reliability and interoperability requirements for next-generation 911 networks and to update 911 location accuracy standards.

FCC probes

In a press conference after the meeting, Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the agency’s investigations into ISPs and news broadcasters. Under Carr, the FCC opened probes into NPR and PBS over their use of corporate underwriting, and Verizon and Comcast for internal diversity initiatives and language on their websites. Carr has indicated he is willing to block mergers if companies don’t ax diversity efforts, and Verizon has a $20 billion deal waiting on agency approval.

“In the end, any actions that the commission will need to vote on, we will vote on,” she said. “But at the same time, I very much worry that what you are seeing now is harassment and bullying meant to silence.”

As Gomez and others have noted, Carr doesn’t need a majority at the currently evenly divided agency to pursue the Trump administration’s ideological agenda by opening investigations and delaying mergers. But the agency is poised to have a GOP majority this spring. 

Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has announced plans to resign then, and it’s not clear who will replace him. Longtime hill staffer Olivia Trusty has been tapped to take the third Republican spot, but hasn’t been confirmed.

Carr said the policies he was targeting were “when you’re dividing and discriminating people based on race and gender.”