This Friday, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Director Steve Dickson issued a joint letter requesting two communications operators, AT&T and Verizon, to postpone the launch of new 5G wireless services originally scheduled for January 5th in response to Aviation safety issues.
In the letter disclosed by Reuters, Buttigieg and Dickson are promoting a proposal for a near-term solution for the coexistence of 5G deployment in C-band and safe flight operations, asking AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg to postpone at least 2 weeks. The aviation industry and the Federal Aviation Administration have raised concerns about potential interference with 5G and sensitive aircraft electronic equipment (such as radio altimeters), which may disrupt flights.
The letter said: We request your company to continue to suspend the introduction of commercial C-band services, after the currently scheduled deployment date of January 5th, no more than a short period of two weeks. Both Verizon and AT&T said they received the letter and are reviewing it. Earlier Friday, the two companies accused the aviation industry of seeking to hijack the deployment of the C-band spectrum until the wireless industry agreed to pay for any outdated altimeter upgrades.
Buttigieg and Dickson said that under the framework, commercial C-band services will start in January as planned, with the exception of certain circumstances around priority airports. The FAA and the aviation industry will determine priority airports. When the FAA completes its assessment of interference potential, the buffer zone will allow aviation operations to continue safely.
The government will work hard to determine all priority airport mitigation measures so that most large commercial aircraft operate safely under all conditions. This will allow for rolling deployments around priority airports-the purpose is to ensure that it starts before March 31, unless there are unforeseen problems.