Are Spectrum Licenses Property?

The case of Ligado Networks, LLC v. United States should be of interest to wireless internet service providers. Ligado Networks filed a suit that alleges that the U.S. government unlawfully took its licensed spectrum—which the company was granted by the FCC in 2020—without due compensation in favor of use by the Department of Defense. The spectrum involved in the suit is L-band spectrum, which sits next to spectrum actively used by DoD for GPS. The government is arguing in the case that it has the right to take back spectrum when it’s needed for defense purposes, and that Ligado doesn’t have a relevant property interest in the spectrum. Ligado declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2025, citing the loss of the spectrum that would have been the basis for its business. USTelecom wrote a brief in the case in support of Ligado Networks. USTelecom argues that its members spend billions of dollars to buy spectrum, and billions more to build networks that use the spectrum. They argue that the government’s actions in this case undermine the ability of carriers to rely on spectrum, which will dampen the willingness to spend a lot of money for spectrum that could be taken away at any time.