Verizon and AT&T begrudgingly agree to avoid airports as they finally turn on C-Band 5G
AT&T and Verizon have delayed their plans to turn on C-Band 5G towers around even more airports than they originally promised to avoid in response toyesterday’s multi-airline petitionagainst them to government regulators.
In apublic statement, Verizon said that while it is still committed to launching C-Band service elsewhere tomorrow, it has “voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports.” In explaining the same decision on its behalf, AT&T toldThe Vergethat its exclusions will affect a “limited number of towers around certain airport runways.”
Both expressed frustration at the airlines, the FAA, and the FCC for the hold-up after two years of multilateral planning. They point out that 40 other countries have been able to sort out aviation-safe 5G deployment.
The air carriers, which include the likes of American Airlines, Delta, and United, balked from an initial agreement over concerns about traffic on the C-Band — spectrum around the 4GHz frequency previously used for satellite TV, abandoned, thenauctioned off to wireless carriers in 2020— interfering with on-board equipment, including the altimeter. They are asking that exclusion areas span at least 2 miles and want options to designate more airports for buffering. The two sides originally agreed to buffer zones at 50 large airports.
AT&T and Verizon say they’re continuing to work with the airline industry and the FAA on the matter.
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This article is sponsored by Total Wireless.
