The Importance of a 5G Terrestrial Backup to GPS

Today, I submitted a letter to The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology regarding their upcoming hearing on Position, Navigation, and Timing.

***

Dear Chairman Rep. Guthrie, Chairman Rep. Hudson, Ranking Member Rep. Pallone, and Ranking Member Rep. Matsui:

I write to commend you for your decision to hold the upcoming hearing, “Where Are We?: Examining Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Capabilities in the United States.” As the world becomes more uncertain and the global order shifts in new and unpredictable ways, we at the Bull Moose Project believe it is imperative that Americans – those who serve in the government, the military, and those who are just trying to visit their families – know that our country has positioning systems that they can trust.

In the search to provide backups to GPS, it’s important to underline that GPS is not in itself a poor technology. It has served Americans well, be it on trips to the beach or in combat. But relying solely on GPS in the future would be a mistake, as it is relatively easy to disrupt or even cripple these systems. Which is why we advocate for a "layered" architecture, or system of systems, where 5G acts as the resilient, un-spoofable terrestrial complement to GPS. As a litany of news stories over the past few years – from airport shutdowns to delayed agricultural production to drone warfare in Ukraine – have demonstrated, the need for alternatives is not a hypothetical.

As detailed in our October 2025 report, “Leaping Ahead: Securing America's Future with a 5G-Based Backup to GPS,” our adversaries (Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea) have already deployed terrestrial, layered PNT redundancies. By failing to provide a similar ground-based complement, the U.S. has effectively left its critical infrastructure, from the electric grid and banking to precision agriculture, exposed to electronic warfare.

To that end, we write to draw your attention to one particular Position, Navigation, and Timing alternative to GPS, one which already has key aspects of its technology around the United States: 5G.

Ever since the National Timing Resilience and Security Act was passed in 2018, there have been discussions as to what sort of terrestrial alternative should be created. But 5G makes perfect sense because it’s already here. Private companies have an incentive to build 5G networks, as their own systems already rely upon it. A 5G-based system would be extraordinarily effective at reaching Americans. because 5G is already effective at doing so: 99 percent of Americans are covered by 5G networks. Plus, as our president, Aiden Buzzetti, recently argued in a comment to the Federal Communications Commission, private industry has already deployed towers meaning the system would not cost taxpayers a penny.

The creation of a PNT alternative slices across a variety of sectors – from infrastructure to national security to tech – making it a thorny and difficult issue. By greenlighting terrestrial PNT, the FCC can foster a new market for "precision" services, ensuring the U.S. remains the global leader in PNT innovation. 

We applaud Chairman Carr’s recent actions at the FCC to launch a proceeding to explore these vital PNT complements. We further urge this Committee to support a rapid, private-sector-led rollout of backups to ensure that Americans have a navigation system they can trust if and when GPS goes dark.