“A substantial number of commenters—over 20—have asked the FCC to reject NextNav’s petition for rulemaking. Deere also shares the same sentiment and requests that the Commission reject NextNav’s petition,” the company said in its filing.
At issue, according to the filing, is Deere’s RTK solution, which uses a frequency hopping spread spectrum ISM band 900 MHz radio, operating between 902 and 928 MHz. “In order to provide centimeter accuracy to our customers within a specified coverage area, an RTK base station measures the received GPS and GNSS signals and then generates correction data messages for use by mobile navigation receivers,” the company said. “If the FCC granted NextNav’s petition and revises its rules relating to the Lower 900 MHz band then these capabilities could be significantly impacted in a negative manner and could be rendered useless in some regions in the United States.”
For its part, NextNav said the John Deere filing concerns an unlicensed Part 15 device. The company said it conducted an engineering study and found 5G operations will not cause unacceptable levels of interference in Part 15 devices in the 902-928 MHz band.
John Deere has been using GPS technology in its precision agriculture products for decades. The company, with a notable presence at CES each year, is arguably the largest user of autonomous vehicles in the United States, outside of robotaxi maker Waymo, with tractors and even lawn mowers in service.
