NextNav Inc.

Hello, and welcome to the NextNAV third quarter 2024 earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. And if you would like to ask a question at that time, simply press star one on your telephone keypad. I would now like to turn the conference over to Erica Barch. You may begin.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to NextNAV third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Participating on today's call are Maryam Sarond, NXNAB's Chief Executive Officer, and Chris Gates, NXNAB's Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will include certain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as may, anticipate, believe, expect, intend, might, plan, possible, potential, aim, strive, predict, project, should, could, would, will, and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. But the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements, which may relate to the next forecast of future results, future prospects, developments, and business strategies are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside NXNAV's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. In particular, such forward-looking statements include the achievement of certain FCC-related milestones and FCC approvals, the ability to realize the broader spectrum capacity, and the advancement of NXNAV's terrestrial 3D P&T services. NextNav's position to drive growth in its 3D geolocation business and expansion of its next-generation terrestrial 3D P&C technologies, the business plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions of NextNav, and NextNav's estimated and future business strategies, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, revenue, expenses, and profitability. These statements are based on NextNav management's current expectations and beliefs as well as the number of assumptions concerning future events. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date made, and NextNav undertakes no commitment to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. For additional information regarding risk factors, see Part 1, Item 1A, Risk Factors, of the company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and Part 1, Item 1A, Risk Factors, of the NextNet's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2023, as well as those otherwise described or updated from time to time in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following our prepared remarks, the company will host an operator-led question and answer session. In addition, at the conclusion of today's call, a replay of our discussion will be posted to the company's investor relations website. I'd now like to turn the call over to Ms. Maryam Saron, Chief Executive Officer of NextNet. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Erica. Good afternoon, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I would like to begin today's call with an update on the business and our latest steps with the FCC and key stakeholders. I will then turn things over to Chris to provide an update on our financials. It's been an exciting few months. for NextNav. We are energized by the early momentum as we advance our strategic vision and address the critical need for a terrestrial complement and backup to GPS. Following the release of the FCC's August 6th public notice, the entire NextNav team has been hard at work. We submitted formal comments on September 5th, followed by reply comments on September 20th in support of our petition to reconfigure the lower 900 megahertz band. As we shared in our filings, our petition offers a unique opportunity to address a national security problem, specifically the lack of a wide-scale terrestrial PNT backup and complement to GPS. We are confident that the FCC understands the importance and urgency of this need. This was evident in the thorough public notice they issued back in August. We were pleased to see the FCC asking the right questions and placing the specific focus on P&T, validating the national security need, which we highlighted in our own proposal. In response to the public notice, over 1,800 filings were submitted to the FCC. A vast majority, over 1,500, were from amateur operators typically file on an individual basis of the remaining 300 filings there were no real surprises or show stoppers we saw support from select stakeholders including those in the public safety arena who are close to the issue and understand the impact of not having a backup and complement to gps for example both the california and massachusetts fire chiefs association came out in support, along with Fairfax County, Virginia, one of the largest counties in the U.S. and which is in close proximity to D.C. We also heard from some of the licensed operators who continue to express concerns about the effects of NextNet's NextGen system on their current operations. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, also filed and said that its views were informed by the concerns of the U.S. Department of Transportation. As with any ban, license operations are critical, and we are committed to coexistence with site-based licensees and to minimizing any impact on these licensees. We see the NTIA being active as a positive sign for a timely resolution and an outcome that makes available much needed commercial spectrum for 5G broadband. The NTIA filing acknowledges the importance of terrestrial PNT capabilities to backup and complement GPS and calls for additional testing to ensure that the operations of railroads and tolling entities are protected. We agree with the NTIA on both points and have been planning to conduct the necessary technical testing all along. As noted in our reply comments, NextNav previously contacted more than 110 stakeholders, including incumbent tolling entities, railroads, unlicensed users, and amateurs to understand opposition views from an engineer to engineer technical point of view. Our goal was and is to find solutions that minimize potential disruptions to existing licensed operations and leave licensees at least as well off, while enabling the benefits of our proposed terrestrial P&T system. Since our outreach, several stakeholders have been responsive and engaged in active dialogue. For example, NextNav is in discussions with the Association of American Railroads, or AAR, and representatives from towing operators to evaluate the full scope of their operations and address harmful interference concerns. Furthermore, we regard the NCIA's call for testing as a helpful procedural tool to induce incumbents to engage and be responsive. As a reminder, the FCC has broad authority to revise its rules and modify licenses when it determines that doing so would promote the public interest. As we move forward, we are committed to continuing engineer to engineer dialogue with the appropriate stakeholders in support of our petition. We believe that collaborative analysis is essential to achieving an outcome that best serves the public interest and addresses a national security problem. As we expected, and it's typical, a portion of filings were from unlicensed stakeholders in opposition. As a reminder, NextNav is already a spectrum license holder in the 900 megahertz band, though it was clear that many opposition commenters were unaware of this fact. For the unlicensed community, their assertions appear to exaggerate the potential effects on unlicensed use from our next-gen system. Unlicensed users already operate in the lower 900 megahertz band and coexist with many other users in the band. This is precisely because unlicensed technologies are designed and built to coexist with both unlicensed and licensed users operating in the band. It is also important to point out that those in opposition failed to put forth viable alternative solutions that meet the pressing need for a wide-scale terrestrial P&T service that can be broadly adopted. Even those who oppose our petition acknowledge that a terrestrial complement and backup to a satellite-based P&T service is critically important to safeguarding U.S. national security, public safety, and our economy. Failure to identify terrestrial P&T solutions with the same technical sophistication and business logic as NextSnap's solution only serves to further highlight the lack of another wide-scale P&T service solution available that can both operate in consumer devices and serve government entities. As a result, there could not be a more critical time to address the important need for a terrestrial complement and backup to GPS. As noted by retired Rear Admiral David Simpson in his recent white paper, Published by Virginia Tech University on PNT Resiliency, a day without accurate and available PNT services is a scenario the U.S. cannot afford, and the country needs to identify a terrestrial complement and backup to GPS. Today, NextNav offers the only concrete opportunity to enable a wide-scale terrestrial PNT service. one that has a clear path to availability in consumer devices such as cell phones with no cost to taxpayers. This is why we believe we have a compelling proposal and feel confident about our path forward. Since the completion of the comment period in September, the team has remained focused on execution. Leveraging feedback garnered during the comment period, we're actively engaged in engineer-to-engineer dialogue with the appropriate stakeholders. This includes ongoing conversations with the toll companies, railroads, and other licensed incumbents. In late October, we also filed a detailed economic analysis conducted by the Brattle Group. The filing details how NextMap's proposal would prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in losses in the event of a global GPS outage. Based on initial assessment, the Brattle Group found that a one-day global GPS outage could cost the American economy $1.6 billion, while our proposal could prevent a loss of $663 million for a one-day outage. For a 30-day outage, the loss could be as large as $58.2 billion. but our proposal could prevent nearly $31.9 billion of that loss. Given the probability of a potential outage event in the U.S., NextNet's proposal is the equivalent of offering the American economy a $10.8 billion insurance policy to protect against GPS outages, plus additional benefits of $3.8 billion from increased resiliency. Taken together, the total quantified value of a GPS backup is $14.6 billion based on the Brattle Group's analysis. This is a powerful impact and why we believe our proposal offers an enormous public benefit. We were also pleased to see that in late October, the Flex Association filed in support of the FCC considering NextNav's proposal. Flux represents U.S. rideshare and delivery platforms, including companies such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash. The association's filing emphasized the crucial role NextNav's enhanced geolocation technology could play in boosting the app-based rideshare and delivery industry community's annual contribution of over $212 billion to the US economy. This activity, coupled with continued dialogue with the appropriate stakeholders, leave us energized as we chart our path forward. Concurrently, the FCC is moving forward, reviewing and summarizing the over 1,800 filed comments. The next key milestone could be an NPRM or notice of proposed rulemaking. However, there's also the possibility that the FCC will ask for additional data or pose additional questions prior to issuing an NPRM. This is all standard procedure and something we are prepared for should it arise. As a reminder, we do not anticipate that the FCC will adopt an NPRM in 2024. Finally, with former President Trump reelected to the presidency last week, We would remind everyone that this is a bipartisan issue. Both Republicans and Democrats care about national security and public safety. From the beginning, our advocacy has been designed to be bipartisan. We have been talking to all commissioners' offices at the FCC and majority and minority members and staffers in the Senate and the House. We look forward to continuing our work with the current FCC commissioners, leadership, and staff, including Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, through the remainder of their terms. We also continue our discussions with the senior sitting Republican commissioner, Brendan Carr, and we expect to engage with the additional leadership and staff once appointed in 2025. Moving forward, we feel confident in our ability to work closely with the relevant government agencies to address the critical need for a terrestrial complement and backup to GPS. In closing, this is an exciting time for our business. We believe that few challenges are more pressing than incorporating greater resiliency into life-saving and mission-critical terrestrial P&T technologies, and more spectrum to make wireless broadband services more accessible for consumers. Though there is more work ahead, our team is ready to advance our mission and work closely with stakeholders. We look forward to ongoing engagement with the FCC and keeping our investors updated on our progress. With that, let me turn things over to Chris for a discussion of our financials. Chris?