NextNav NN 0.00%↑ submitted a technical response to recent filings by tolling technology providers Neology and the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, known as IBTTA/E-ZPass, asserting that licensed tolling systems can coexist with its proposed 5G-powered positioning, navigation and timing systems in the Lower 900 MHz band. The analysis counters claims of potential interference and highlights minimal costs for toll operators, such as retuning a subset of toll readers without affecting consumer transponders.
NextNav’s proposal aims to optimize the band for advanced 5G applications while preserving existing tolling infrastructure, a move that could enhance national PNT capabilities amid growing reliance on GPS alternatives.
“NextNav’s proposal would impose only minimal costs on tolling operators, limited to potential retuning of a subset of toll readers,” said Tom Tran, NextNav’s senior director of engineering. “Importantly, optimization of the band would not require any retuning or replacement of consumer toll transponders. To the extent that retuning of certain toll readers may be necessary, NextNav has committed to reasonable accommodations, including financial and technical support to facilitate a smooth transition to an optimized Lower 900 MHz band plan.”
The filing disputes Neology’s assessment of 5G cell radius, arguing it underestimates positioning reference signals’ coverage using real-world network topologies, and rejects claims of tolling impacts on 5G as inconsistent with existing mobile broadband coexistence.
NextNav further criticized Neology’s lab tests on 5G effects on tolling devices as unrepresentative of symmetric real-world environments, noting the data actually supports its own coexistence study. The response highlighted material errors in the opposing submissions, including incorrect assumptions like a 90% downlink loading factor, which it said reinforce NextNav’s findings rather than undermine them. Finally, it pointed to Neology’s data confirming toll readers’ frequency agility, allowing operations across the band with an 11 megahertz block sufficient for multi-lane deployments.
