RESTON, VA. – January 7, 2025 – Satellite communications company Ligado Networks (“Ligado”) today filed a lawsuit against Inmarsat Global Ltd. (“Inmarsat”) for Inmarsat’s intentional and willful breach of a 2007 Cooperation Agreement (the “Agreement”) to facilitate Ligado’s terrestrial operations using contiguous FCC-allocated spectrum blocks.
Under the Agreement, in exchange for significant payments from Ligado, Inmarsat was required to upgrade its own satellite terminals to eliminate potential terminal interference, including near airports and waterways, thus providing Ligado with the ability to offer its ancillary terrestrial component service in all areas of the country. In exchange for Inmarsat’s efforts and the rights to use portions of Inmarsat’s spectrum bands, Ligado paid Inmarsat over $1.7 billion, including a one-time lump-sum $250 million “transition payment”.
The complaint alleges that Inmarsat has failed to honor its obligations under the Agreement by neglecting to upgrade its own satellite terminals, deliver to Ligado portions of Inmarsat’s spectrum, and assist Ligado in its efforts to gain permission from the FCC to pursue its goal of providing nationwide terrestrial wireless services to expand America’s 5G capabilities.
The complaint seeks a court order requiring Inmarsat to perform its contractual duties, an award of monetary damages to compensate Ligado for Inmarsat’s intentional breaches of the Agreement, and an order requiring Inmarsat to repay the billions Ligado paid and lost due to Inmarsat’s intentional inaction.
“Ligado entered the Agreement in good faith and with every intention of upholding its end of the deal,” explained Doug Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ligado. “Over a 17-year period, Ligado paid Inmarsat over $1.7 billion in fees, while Inmarsat willfully avoided performing its contractual duties to upgrade its own satellite terminals. In fact, due to its choice to delay upgrading its terminals, Inmarsat is likely still years away from completing the upgrades required under the Agreement. After a prolonged effort to reach a path forward, Ligado is compelled to seek legal recourse to make Inmarsat perform its duties and pay damages for the harm it has caused.”
Inmarsat’s mobile satellite service (MSS) employs terminals installed on airplanes and ships to transmit and receive signals over Inmarsat’s network. To enable maximum nationwide deployment of Ligado’s services, including near airports and waterways, Inmarsat agreed to resolve interference issues posed by those terminals (“terminal interference”). Its failure to resolve the terminal interference issues delayed the process through which Ligado ultimately received its FCC license authorization, and when the FCC finally granted Ligado its license, Ligado was expressly restricted from providing service near airports and waterways. That limitation was caused solely by Inmarsat’s failure to upgrade its terminals per the Agreement.
Additionally, as stated in the complaint, it appears that Inmarsat was working with the Department of Defense (“DOD”) and likely knew that Ligado would not be able to deploy its authorized terrestrial service at all because of the DOD, and yet Inmarsat continued to accept Ligado’s payments and induce Ligado into making additional and accelerated payments.
In 2023, Ligado filed a lawsuit against the DOD, the Department of Commerce (“DOC”), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) for their unilateral and unlawful seizure of Ligado’s licensed spectrum. The U.S. government’s actions, which constitute the largest uncompensated taking of private property in the U.S. in modern times, deprived Ligado of its rights to use its licensed spectrum bands and caused the company serious financial distress. On November 18, 2024, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims substantially denied the government’s Motion to Dismiss Ligado’s claims against it, ruling that Ligado’s spectrum license is “property” vis-à-vis the DOD and that the company had properly alleged that the U.S. government engaged in physical, categorical, and regulatory takings of Ligado’s exclusively licensed spectrum without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment and the Tucker Act.
***
About Ligado Networks
Building on 25 years of experience providing mobile satellite services, our mission is to bring versatile connectivity to the businesses, people, and places that need it most. Our satellite and terrestrial solutions, combined with powerful, lower mid-band spectrum, serve to supplement and broaden mobile coverage across the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.ligado.com.
For further information
Ligado Networks Media Contact: media@ligado.com