AT&T, Verizon Will Limit US 5G Deployment Over Aviation

AT&T announced on Tuesday (18) that it will temporarily postpone the activation of some 5G phone towers installed in locations near major airports in the United States to avoid an aviation crisis in the country. The announcement was followed by Verizon, which will also limit the installation of 5G in towers near air terminals.

Discussions are centered around this proposal, which would allow about 90% of the towers’ deployment to go ahead, sources told Reuters, although it would impact operations near major urban centers.

Two of the sources said that it will be necessary to delay the deployment of services in just over 500 towers, the vast majority of them from Verizon.

“We are frustrated with the inability of the FAA (the US aviation agency) to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services,” AT&T said.

Verizon said it “voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports” but will launch the service on Wednesday.

The White House has been trying to avoid a massive disruption to flights whose aircraft could experience interference from 5G service. The launch of fifth-generation mobile services, which has previously been delayed, is scheduled for Wednesday, a source said.

Airlines are preparing to cancel a significant number of US passenger and cargo flights in the coming hours to prevent some aircraft instruments from being interfered with by 5G C-band transmissions when service starts.

Airline companies warned on Monday of “catastrophic” impacts on the sector from signal interference.

Airlines are concerned that the problem could prevent them from flying the Boeing 777 and other large planes.

The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers said the day before that the new 5G service could render significant numbers of dual-aisle aircraft unusable, “keep tens of thousands of Americans abroad” and cause havoc on US flights. USA.

The FAA warned that the potential interference could affect sensitive aircraft instruments, such as altimeters, and significantly impair operations in low-visibility conditions.

Airlines on Sunday called for 5G to be rolled out everywhere in the US except for towers that are approximately 2 miles from airport runways. Verizon’s launch plan is much more aggressive than AT&T’s and will be impacted by the Biden administration’s order to delay the use of some towers near airport runways.

Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg told employees on Jan. 4 that the company has not seen any aviation security issues with 5G, but has reluctantly agreed to delay the rollout by two weeks, which expires on Wednesday. .