AT&T and Verizon have agreed to further postpone the U.S. launch of their previously postponed 5G C-band wireless service one day before the planned launch date.
On December 31, 2021, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Director Steve Dickinson sent a letter [PDF] Issued a warning to AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon CEO Hans Westberg if the aviation industry’s concerns about 5G interference with aircraft equipment fail on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 (the two companies previously Indicates that the date that will start using C) is resolved before the tourism industry will appear chaotic-band spectrum.
FAA’s concerns are based on the October 2020 report [PDF] The Radio Technology Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) found that “5G telecommunications systems in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band have significant risks [used by 5G C-band] It will cause harmful interference to radar altimeters on all types of civil aircraft. “
Concerns that 5G signals may interfere with aviation equipment can be traced back at least to 2015, when International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) first considered allocating additional spectrum for mobile wireless services.
This letter proposes a framework through which commercial C-band services can start as planned except around major airports, as determined by the FAA. Unless there are unforeseen technical issues, services around these priority airports will be implemented in phases before the end of March 2022.
AT&T and Verizon had previously planned to provide their respective 5G services in the US in December last year, but they postponed the launch of the service during discussions with the FAA Still in progress.
Telecom company is not happy
On Sunday, Stankey and Westberg rejected Buttigieg and Dickinson’s concerns.In the joint response obtained by the New York Times [PDF]The two CEOs said that while deeply concerned about the safety of customers, employees, and family members, “the question of whether 5G operations can safely coexist has long been resolved.”
The response letter stated that “the radio altimeter does not work on or anywhere near the C-band frequency” and pointed out that the altimeter works on the 4.2-4.4 GHz frequency band. C-band spectrum coverage 3.7-3.8GHz.
It continues to accuse the federal government and the FAA for not collecting altimeter data until November last year, and requires the two companies to provide additional convenience five days before their planned 5G deployment-the wireless industry paid $80 billion for this last year Spectrum fees.
“Agreeing to your proposal is not only an unprecedented and unfounded evasion of the due process and checks and balances elaborated in our democratic structure, but also an irresponsible abandonment of the operations required to deploy a world-class and globally competitive communications network. Controlling this is as important to our country’s economic vitality, public safety and national interests as the aviation industry,” the CEO’s letter said.
As a concession, the leaders of the two companies stated that they will adopt a C-band signal level reduction zone similar to that implemented around French airport runways—currently 5G services and aviation coexist—until July 5, 2022.
On the same day, the FAA issued A statement Indicates that the wireless operator’s proposal is being reviewed because the agency is trying to find a way to operate 5G C-band services without compromising aviation safety. The agency stated that although the situation is still unresolved, it may issue a notification to the air mission (Notice of Navigation) Restrict aviation in areas that may be interfered by 5G.
Click pause
AT&T and Verizon are obviously unwilling to take responsibility for cancelled flights and stranded passengers, and on Tuesday said they would accept short delays.
“At the request of Secretary Buttigieg, we voluntarily agreed to postpone the deployment of C-band 5G services for another two weeks,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement. Register.
“We also continue to work on the six-month mitigation measures for the protected area outlined in our letter. We know that aviation safety and 5G can coexist, and we believe that further cooperation and technical evaluation will alleviate any problems.”
A Verizon spokesperson said: “We have agreed to a two-week postponement, which guarantees to bring our game-changing 5G network to this country in January, delivered through the best and most reliable wireless network in the United States.” Register In an email.
Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) Chairman Joe DePete welcomed the delay in an emailed statement Register.
“It is clear that this irresponsible 5G deployment is not yet ready to take off, which is why U.S. Secretary of Transportation Buttigieg, ALPA and other frontline aviation workers and stakeholders have called for the implementation to be postponed,” he said. “We are very pleased that Verizon AT&T is listening to the crew’s safety instructions.”
“Now the real work begins. We hope this delay will enable the wireless industry and the wider aviation community to jointly develop effective solutions to ensure that every passenger and cargo flight arrives safely without severely disrupting aviation operations.” ®
