Ligado peddles its mid-band spectrum for private wireless use

Ligado Networks has partnered with the licensed spectrum broker Select Spectrum to market Ligado’s mid-band spectrum. They will especially be targeting the utilities sector, offering the spectrum for use with private wireless networks.

According to Ligado, many companies in the utilities and other critical infrastructure industries want dedicated access to licensed spectrum so they can set up private wireless networks. Ligado’s 35 MHz portfolio of lower mid-band (L-band) spectrum will support the coverage and capacity requirements for those operations throughout the U.S.

Additionally, the companies say Ligado’s mobile satellite network operations in North America offer extended coverage and network redundancy. These satellite capabilities can extend select applications for customer private networks beyond the areas covered by the terrestrial networks.

In early 2020 Ligado gained approval from the 3GPP for new technical specifications that will enable its mid-band spectrum to be deployed in 5G networks. The company immediately began plotting its entrance into the private wireless sector.

For a number of years there’s been speculation that Ligado would prefer to sell its spectrum to the big carriers. But that hasn’t panned out. Verizon’s Adam Koeppe, senior vice president of Technology Strategy and Planning, told Fierce in March 2021 that the company had no interest in using the L-band.

The company has pivoted to a focus on the booming private wireless sector. Its partner, Select Spectrum, has been a spectrum broker for more than a decade. 

The company cut its teeth by brokering spectrum in the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) portion of the 2.5 GHz band. In 2020 the company said it planned to act as a spectrum broker in the CBRS band.