Two of the top telecom operators in the United States (U.S.) have further delayed the rollout of C-band 5G in some areas near the airport. Some of the largest airlines in the country have said that the rollout of C-band 5G would interfere with aircraft technology and disrupt communication. According to an AP report, the telcos decided to delay the launch of 5G near some key airports after the Biden administration intervened for brokering a settlement between the airlines and the telecom companies. The telecom companies will delay in turning on the 5G cell towers within a 2-mile radius of runways designated by the federal officials. It is unclear how long these towers will be idle.
The Decision of Verizon, AT&T a Good One
Joe Biden, President of the U.S., said the decision from the telecom operators would ensure that passenger travel, cargo operations, and economic recovery are at pace. The telcos will still switch on more than 90% of the 5G towers in the U.S. as scheduled apart from the ones that are within a 2-mile radius of the runways. The issue that the aviation bodies have with C-band 5G is that the airwaves used by the altimeter in the aircraft is close to the airwaves used for C-band 5G. Altimeters are crucial equipment for the pilots to help with landing when the visibility is low on the runway. The telecom operators said that their equipment would not interfere with the operating flights as the same technology is being used by 40 other nations which have already deployed 5G. But the airline CEOs have said that the disruption caused by 5G near the airports would be more than initially thought. This is because, according to the flight restrictions announced by the FAA last week, dozens of major airports would be affected if 5G services were deployed nearby. But this is even hard for the telcos to understand since they have spent billions of dollars in acquiring the C-band spectrum from the government.
