President Joe Biden has praised a deal between AT&T and Verizon that will allow the deployment of new 5G wireless in the next two weeks, saying it had prevented an air traffic safety emergency.
As Reuters reported Tuesday (Jan. 4), two wireless companies agreed Monday to delay deploying the network until Jan. 19, while gaining assurances from the government that they will be able to begin the service this month.
The delay arrived following pressure from the Biden administration, airline unions and a threat of lawsuits from air carriers, as the deployment could have interrupted thousands of flights.
With the agreement, “there will be no disruptions to air operations over the next two weeks and puts us on track to substantially reduce disruptions to air operations when AT&T and Verizon launch 5G on January 19th,” Biden said.
AT&T and Verizon had earlier rejected a request from Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Chief Steve Dickson to further delay the implementation of 5G technology, which had been set to launch Wednesday.
Read more: AT&T, Verizon’s 5G Plans Clashes With Federal Agency
In a joint letter to the two companies sent Dec. 31, Buttigieg and Dickson thanked them for agreeing to an initial 30-day delay as a solution is sought to offer confidence that 5G and aviation will safely coexist in the U.S. The letter said that while the service would begin as planned this month, there should be exceptions around priority airports to make there is no interference with technologies pilots rely on for safety.
“The FAA and the aviation industry will identify priority airports where a buffer zone would permit aviation operations to continue safely while the FAA completes its assessments of the interference potential around those airports,” the letter said.
They asked that these sites delay 5G until the end of March. In response, the CEOs of the two companies said that while they would not deploy 5G around airports for six months, they rejected broader curbs on C-Band spectrum.
The CEOs argue an exclusion zone AT&T and Verizon propose is now used in France, “with slight adaption” showing “modest technical differences in how C-band is being deployed.”
“The laws of physics are the same in the United States and France,” they wrote. “If U.S. airlines are permitted to operate flights every day in France, then the same operating conditions should allow them to do so in the United States.”
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More