NAB, Sinclair, and UrsaNav Announce Demonstration to Boost Resilience of Vulnerable GPS System
NAB Show Las Vegas
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Sinclair Broadcast Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI), and UrsaNav®, LLC will demonstrate a complementary system that can provide precision timing upon which the U.S. economy relies in the event the Global Positioning System (GPS) is compromised or attacked.
American consumers and industries rely on GPS every day. Yet GPS is vulnerable to disruption or attack, with tremendous economic consequences. While most people understand the value of GPS primarily in terms of location and navigation, GPS also serves a critical function by providing ubiquitous and precise timing information, which is critical for the U.S. economy. A wide range of industries rely on GPS for timing, including telecommunications, electric utilities, agriculture, oil and gas, financial services, and others. One economic study suggested that GPS generated roughly $1.4 trillion in economic benefits to the private sector through 2017 in the U.S. alone1; another study puts the economic loss from a single day of GPS failure at $1.6 billion, and the loss from a month of failure at $58.2 billion.2 But GPS can be vulnerable to jamming, spoofing, or even direct foreign attacks against satellites or their ground-based infrastructure.
NAB, Sinclair, and UrsaNav will demonstrate an alternative timing capability using the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS™) and eLoran as a fully terrestrial solution to complement existing GPS services. BPS, a technology developed by NAB, is enabled by ATSC 3.0, or NextGen TV, and can readily be deployed using broadcasters' existing infrastructure and spectrum as soon as broadcasters complete the nationwide transition to ATSC 3.0. BPS is one of many features made possible with adoption of ATSC 3.0.
eLoran is an advanced Position, Navigation, and Timing solution evolving from the long line of Loran technologies that were initially developed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. Together, these technologies can provide a robust alternative precision timing capability in the event of GPS being compromised. The demonstration will take place during show floor hours at Futures Park (Booth 4042) in the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center at NAB Show. There will also be a panel discussion with the participants at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, April 5 in room W222-W223 as part of NAB's Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference.
"Broadcasters have long been essential to public safety, and today we're proving that role is more important than ever," said NAB Executive Vice President, Technology and Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny. "Through technologies like the Broadcast Positioning System, enabled by ATSC 3.0, broadcasters can deliver a resilient solution to support America's critical infrastructure in the face of growing threats to GPS. Combining BPS with eLoran provides a resilient, frequency diverse, and wholly terrestrial alternative to GPS. We are proud to partner with Sinclair and UrsaNav to demonstrate how broadcasters' innovation can help safeguard the systems that keep our economy running."
Del Parks, Sinclair's President of Technology, said, "GPS vulnerability is a trillion-dollar problem in the U.S. economy. Broadcasters can use their existing infrastructure and spectrum to solve this problem. We are excited to demonstrate how BPS can help secure the U.S. economy if broadcasters can move forward with a complete and expeditious transition to ATSC 3.0."
"We should ask ourselves why China and Russia continue to operate and upgrade Loran systems that interoperate with their own Global Navigation Satellite Systems, BeiDou and GLONASS, and why other nations in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are doing so as well," said Charles Schue, UrsaNav's CEO. "The answer is easy: eLoran provides a sovereign and survivable terrestrial PNT solution wirelessly over continent-wide areas that ensures the safety and security of citizens and infrastructure when GPS/GNSS is not available or trustworthy. eLoran and BPS are proven technologies that operate within already licensed spectrum. When paired, they provide a layered PNT alternative to metropolitan and remote users."
About NAB Show
NAB Show is the preeminent conference and exhibition driving the evolution of broadcast, media and entertainment, held April 5-9, 2025 (Exhibits April 6-9) in Las Vegas, Nev. Produced by the National Association of Broadcasters, NAB Show is the ultimate marketplace for next-generation technology inspiring superior audio and video experiences. From creation to consumption, across multiple platforms, NAB Show is where global visionaries convene to bring content to life in new and exciting ways. Learn more at NABShow.com.
About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at nab.org.
About Sinclair
Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 86 markets affiliated with all the major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel and multicast networks Comet, CHARGE!, TBD/ROAR and The Nest. Sinclair's content is delivered via multiple platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and the nation's largest streaming aggregator of local news content, NewsON. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net
About UrsaNav
UrsaNav is the global leader in Low-Frequency (LF) positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) products and solutions such as Loran-C, Enhanced Loran, and LFPhoenix™. UrsaNav's "sky-free" PNT technology is fully interoperable with, yet completely independent of, GPS or other Global or Regional Navigation Satellite Systems and their augmentations. UrsaNav provides full life-cycle engineering, operations, and support. Our personnel have been involved in Loran-C/D, Chayka, and eLoran systems design, development, and deployment for Federal and Military organizations – around the world - since the early 1970's. See www.UrsaNav.com for more information.
Category: General
1 O'Connor, A. C., Gallaher, M. P., Clark-Sutton, K. B., Lapidus, D., Oliver, Z., Scott, T. J., Wood, D. W., & Brown, E. G., "Economic benefits of the Global Positioning System (GPS)", RTI International (2019).
2 Bazelon, Coleman, Sanyal, Paroma, "Public Benefits of Reconfiguring the Lower 900 MHz Band to Support a Backup and Complement to GPS," (2024).
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250403165738/en/
Media contacts:
NAB: Alex Siciliano, [email protected]
Sinclair: Jessica Bellucci, [email protected]
UrsaNav: Tirena Dingeldein, [email protected]