NextNav Inc. activated its first 5G‑powered Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) network in Santa Clara County on December 11, 2025, marking the company’s inaugural commercial deployment of a terrestrial GPS‑backup system. The network is slated to provide continuous indoor and urban coverage, filling a critical gap left by satellite‑only solutions.
The system leverages the company’s licensed lower‑900 MHz spectrum and 5G Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) technology, enabling high‑accuracy positioning even in dense urban environments. By complementing and backing up GPS, the network addresses a growing national‑security priority for resilient navigation infrastructure.
NextNav’s Q3 2025 financial results provide context for the launch. Revenue fell 45% to $0.887 million from $1.61 million in the same quarter a year earlier, reflecting a slowdown in demand for its core PNT services amid broader market softness. Net income, however, improved dramatically to $0.483 million from a $13.61 million loss a year ago, driven by disciplined cost management and a shift toward higher‑margin service contracts. Earnings per share of $‑0.12 beat the consensus estimate of $‑0.14, a $0.02 or 14% improvement, largely because the company maintained tighter operating expenses while expanding its customer base in the public‑sector segment.
CEO Mariam Sorond said, “Activating this network is a critical step in our commercialization process, proving that robust 5G broadband and high‑integrity PNT can be delivered together.” She added that the deployment underscores the urgency of building a reliable backup to GPS for national security and public‑safety applications.
Strategically, the launch positions NextNav as a key player in the emerging terrestrial‑PNT market, which is gaining bipartisan support and regulatory attention. The company is actively engaging the FCC on reconfiguring the lower‑900 MHz band for PNT services, while competitors such as Alkami and Pagaya work on alternative solutions. The deployment also signals NextNav’s readiness to scale the network nationwide, potentially unlocking new revenue streams and strengthening its critical‑infrastructure portfolio.
Analysts are closely monitoring the company’s progress, noting that the operational milestone, combined with the company’s improving profitability, could accelerate adoption of its PNT services across government and commercial sectors.
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