NAB Forms Company to Launch Broadcast Positioning Service
Trade group says the service would complement GPS while improving security
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2026 — Providers of free TV are looking at a new line of business: Providing competition to the Global Positioning System (GPS) that beams mapping data to hundreds of millions of iPhone and Android devices.
The National Association of Broadcasters announced the launch of Merkhet Solutions, a company developing a terrestrial positioning system beamed from hundreds of TV station towers across the country.
“BPS represents a powerful intersection of innovation, public safety and opportunity for broadcasters,” NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said. “Launching Merkhet Solutions is the next step in commercializing this technology."
The Broadcast Positioning System works by embedding time and location data in the signals of nearby TV broadcast towers to triangulate a given location, as opposed to satellite signals or cell towers. Merkhet CEO Sam Matheny believes his service can serve as a backup network in the event that GPS systems fail.
“The United States needs resilient complementary PNT [position, navigation, and timing] capabilities that can operate when GPS is disrupted, degraded or unavailable,” Matheny told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in written testimony ahead of a June 4 hearing. Prior to his new role at Merkhat, Matheny spent 12 years as NAB’s Chief Technology Officer. The spin-off company is wholly owned by NAB but will operate as an independent business, LeGeyt told Warren Communications News.
The GPS used by consumers operates at a single frequency vulnerable to jamming attacks and “noise” from radio signals. In contrast, BPS operates across 210 Megahertz of spectrum, making it more difficult to jam, according to Merkhet’s website.
Other applications include time synchronization, the processing of stock trades, and the adding of new energy sources to grids. NAB conducted field tests with Dominion Energy in 2025 which are still ongoing.
“Congress should help accelerate BPS installation and operations through funding for traceable time, station hardware, calibration and ongoing network operations,” Matheny wrote, adding that Congress should continue funding the broadcast signal upgrades used by the network.
