What if your power grid, emergency services, or financial systems didn’t have to rely solely on GPS?
That’s the future NextNav and Oscilloquartz are aiming for. In a new partnership, the two companies are combining forces to build a scalable, GPS-independent timing solution, and it’s powered by terrestrial 5G infrastructure.
Let’s face it, GPS is amazing, but it’s also vulnerable.
From solar flares to signal jamming, the Global Positioning System has its weaknesses. And in a world where timing is everything (literally, financial trades, data centers, emergency responses all depend on synchronized time), we can’t afford a single point of failure.
That’s where NextNav’s 3D Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) tech and Oscilloquartz’s elite synchronization hardware come in.
This is a mission-critical solution in motion. It leverages existing 5G networks to deliver UTC-aligned time indoors and outdoors, provides a redundant, resilient alternative to GPS, and combines NextNav’s 5G-based terrestrial timing with Oscilloquartz’s equipment.
It also aligns with FCC efforts to diversify PNT sources and supports continuity for utilities, financial systems, and emergency services.
According to Sidd Chenumolu, NextNav’s Chief Business Development Officer, this partnership lays the groundwork for “a systems-of-systems approach” that could protect national infrastructure in the face of real-world threats.
If you’re in telecom, cybersecurity, public safety, or finance, timing is your invisible backbone. If you lose it, you risk transaction errors, network delays, power grid disruptions, and communication breakdowns.
With GPS spoofing and GNSS jamming on the rise, this solution offers peace of mind. It also brings 5G back into the spotlight, not just for speed, but for timing resiliency.
This partnership is proof of concept for the future of timing.
The demo will show how a terrestrial timing service can seamlessly work alongside (and independently from) GPS. That’s a bold move in the timing world, and one that could shape future regulations and standards.
And let’s not overlook the investment potential. NextNav (Nasdaq: NN) and ADTRAN Holdings (parent of Oscilloquartz, Nasdaq: ADTN) are quietly positioning themselves at the center of next-gen infrastructure.
Whether you’re a systems engineer, an investor watching critical infrastructure plays, or a policymaker worried about national security, this 5G-timing partnership matters.
Because in 2025, the question isn’t “Do we need a GPS backup?”
It’s “How soon can we build one that works at scale?”
