Justice Department Asks Court to Dismiss Ligado's $50 Billion Lawsuit: Spectrum Licenses Carry No Property Rights
The U.S. Department of Justice has again asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to dismiss satellite operator Ligado Networks' roughly $50 billion takings lawsuit. According to Broadband Breakfast's October 29 report, the department argued in a motion filed late Wednesday, October 28, that a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spectrum license carries no constitutionally protected property rights, so the government does not have to compensate licensees for occupying their airwaves, and the court lacks jurisdiction over the claim.
"Ligado cannot establish that the Communications Act provides it with the right to exclude non-FCC federal agencies from the spectrum covered by its ATC license," Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Division, wrote in the filing. Ligado alleges that secret Defense Department systems have blocked it from using the L-band terrestrial license the FCC granted in 2020. In a new complaint filed in September, the company raised its damages estimate from the original $39 billion to about $50 billion, citing inflation and expanded losses. "The government's motion to dismiss argues that an FCC spectrum license, even one worth billions of dollars, can be taken by the federal government without any compensation," Ligado CEO Doug Smith said in a statement, pledging a vigorous opposition. Advanced Television reported on November 2 that the court wants Ligado's response by December 7.
Ligado first sued in the Court of Federal Claims in 2023. In March, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sent the case back for more briefing, saying it lacked enough information to rule confidently on whether Ligado holds a property right against the Defense Department. The two sides had reportedly neared a settlement earlier this year, but talks did not advance.
The case's implications reach beyond one company: wireless carriers have spent more than $230 billion on FCC spectrum auctions since competitive bidding began in 1994. If the court accepts the Justice Department's no-property-rights argument, the constitutional compensation safety net carriers assumed came with their licenses would be rewritten. A dismissal would likely bring another appeal to the Federal Circuit, with Supreme Court review potentially to follow. Coverage of the filing is at Broadband Breakfast: DOJ Asks Judge to Toss Ligado Takings Case.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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