The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as well as the United States (U.S.) Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg had asked the telecom operators to delay the deployment of commercial 5G services using C-band spectrum for no more than two weeks. But the U.S. telecom operators have denied the request. As per Reuters, AT&T and Verizon, two of the biggest telecom operators in the U.S. have rejected the request for a delay to launch 5G as planned on January 5, 2022. However, the telcos have accepted that they will take temporary safeguards.
Won’t Deploy 5G Around Airports, but Won’t Limit Elsewhere: U.S. Operators
The U.S. telcos have conveyed through a joint statement that they will not deploy 5G around airports for the time being. They have refrained from limiting the launch of 5G using the C-band spectrum elsewhere in the country. The statement from the companies said that it would be irresponsible abdication if they avoid launching commercial 5G on January 5, 2022. For the unaware, the aviation industry, as well as FAA, have raised concerns around the launch of 5G using the C-band spectrum. The reason cited by the authorities is that 5G airwaves in that particular frequency band would interfere with the sensitive aircraft electronics such as radio altimeters which could disrupt flights. The telcos noted that there’s an exclusion zone in France and if the U.S. airlines are permitted to operate flights in France at regular, there’s no reason why the same operating conditions can’t exist in the U.S. C-Band spectrum’s frequencies range between 4 GHz and 8 GHz. These high-frequency airwaves would allow the U.S. operators to launch 5G for masses in the country and expand their network coverage significantly. At the same time, with such high frequencies, telcos can deliver the true power of 5G to their consumers and thus it is understandable why they don’t want to delay the launch of 5G using the C-band spectrum.
