The Federal Aviation Administration or FAA has tentatively agreed to stop looking any more into 5G delays from AT&T and Verizon. With that, this was after airlines started to threaten them with lawsuits and the mass cancellation of flights.
FAA Agrees to Stop Seeking 5G Delay from AT&T and Verizon
According to the story by ArsTechnica, the FAA agreed to stop seeking any more 5G delays from AT&T and Verizon by potentially ending a battle with the aviation industry's reportedly unproven claim that 5G transmission through C-Band frequencies will be interfering with airplane altimeters.
The commitment came when AT&T and Verizon agreed to just one more delay of a total of two weeks which pushes their deployment day off until January 19. They had agreed in the past to delay from December 5 up to January 5.
FAA and DOT to No Longer Seek or Demand Delay in C-Band Deployment
Terms of the deal were described in an attachment that came with a letter that Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation, sent to the carriers. The terms note that in light of the foregoing and still subject to any unforeseen aviation issues, both the FAA and DOT will no longer seek or demand any further delays of the deployment of the C-Band.
Buttigieg thanked both the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon as the deal incorporates commitments made from both companies, including C-Band radio exclusion zones around the airports for six months. The aviation industry will be giving its carriers a list of 50 priority airports where the exclusion zones are said to apply.
FAA to Expedite Approval of AMOCs
Both AT&T and Verizon are expected to provide data regarding operating characteristics, base stations, and planned deployment locations. With that, they will also continue to work in good faith along with aviation stakeholders to support the technical assessment of certain individual altimeters and airport environments.
The FAA said in the past that it would safely expedite the approval of the AMOCs or Alternate Means of Compliance for operators along with high-performing radio altimeters in order to operate in those airports. This signaled that airlines could already be using certain altimeters that are capable of coexisting with C-Band transmissions.
C-Band Spectrum Licenses for 3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz Frequencies
Both AT&T and Verizon's very own C-Band spectrum licenses are for frequencies going from 3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz. Companies, however, do not plan to deploy between both the 3.8 GHz and the 3.98 GHz until the year 2023.
The radio altimeters previously determined that airplane altitudes rely on a spectrum from 4.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz. In addition, AT&T and Verizon have repeatedly pointed out that the C-Band is actually being used for 5G in about 40 countries without reports of interference towards altimeters.
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Written by Urian B.
