Analysis Puts Dollar Estimate on Lost Value of Ligado Spectrum

Each month that the FCC takes in deciding on Ligado's pending petitions for its proposed terrestrial low-power broadband service leads to $100 million to $2 billion lost in consumer value, former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said in an economic analysis partially underwritten by the company. The analysis, submitted by Ligado and to be posted in docket 11-109, said the public benefits of the twin Ligado petitions' approval would be clarification and enhancement of property rights in spectrum, help in resolving interference disputes, demonstration of "continued American leadership in spectrum policy," and other benefits: There are "few if any" public objections to the plan, and benefits exceed the costs, it said.