Tokyo – January 6, 2021 – MetCom and NextNav today announced a new licensing partnership to deliver resilient, precise, and secure solutions for 3D Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) in Japan through the NextNav TerraPoiNT solution.
Leveraging partnerships with Japanese Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) service providers KYOCERA Communication Systems (KCCS) and Sony Network Communications (SNC), MetCom plans to deploy NextNav’s innovative Terrestrial Beacon System, TerraPoiNT, to serve the emerging PNT needs of Japan’s critical infrastructure and technology sector.
PNT services are vital for the digital economy, providing infrastructure support for everything from electric grids to financial services, public safety applications to autonomous vehicles, location apps to intelligent transportation. As the reach and use of location continues to grow, the demand for a new generation of highly available, secure and precise 3D PNT solutions is reaching a critical point.
Unfortunately, current Satellite-based Positioning Systems (SPS) like the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) face significant operational challenges in dense urban areas. Signals are unable to penetrate buildings and urban canyons, leaving significant coverage gaps. With the proliferation of SPS jammers, unencrypted satellite location signals are defenseless against GPS spoofing or jamming.
With encrypted communications and ranging signals 100,000x stronger than GPS, the TerraPoiNT solution is highly resistant to spoofing and jamming. The 3GPP compliant TerraPoiNT system will provide the reliable infrastructure needed to deliver floor level positioning for commercial and public safety services indoors and in dense urban areas.
NextNav’s TerraPoiNT solution is recognized as the premier terrestrial solution for Position, Navigation, and Timing. Currently operating in several key markets, TerraPoiNT is used by NASA for urban drone operations and has undergone extensive testing by the US Department of Transportation and US Department of Homeland Security.
MetCom is currently working with the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to demonstrate the capabilities of the TerraPoiNT solution.