Just 24 hours before they were set to launch several 5G towers near major American airports, both AT&T and Verizon backed off their plans, the telecom giants announced on Tuesday. The reason? Potentially “catastrophic disruptions” to flights nationwide, according to the trade association for the top U.S. airlines.
On Monday, Airlines for America had asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the top federal communications and aviation regulators to step in and stop the 5G rollout so close to major airports over fears that the new 5G signals could interfere with aircraft equipment.
AT&T and Verizon had previously reached an agreement with federal regulators earlier this month to launch the new service starting Jan. 19, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) saying it would not object to a 5G rollout after Verizon and AT&T promised to address safety concerns near airports. Still, the FAA sent several requests to the telecoms, saying the frequencies they planned to use could confuse radar altimeters, which are used to land planes and “provide highly accurate information about an aircraft’s height above the ground.”
Airline executives said on Monday that the telecoms’ promised measures just weren’t enough to prevent interference with aircraft sensors. While they kicked the can down the road, the telecoms rounded on the FAA.
“We are frustrated by the FAA’s inability to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services, and we urge it do so in a timely manner,” AT&T spokesperson spokesperson Megan Ketterer said in a statement.
Verizon echoed AT&T’s frustrations.
“As the nation’s leading wireless provider, we have voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and our nation’s airlines have not been able to fully resolve navigating 5G around airports, despite it being safe and fully operational in more than 40 other countries,” said Verizon spokesperson Rich Young in the statement.
AT&T announced Tuesday it will continue to launch its 5G services everywhere planned except near airports, while Verizon said its Wednesday launch will still “enable more than 90 million Americans to experience the transformative speed, reliability and power of this game-changing network on the go or in their homes or businesses.”
In a statement on Tuesday, President Joe Biden thanked the two companies for delaying the launch of 5G services near airports and reinforced that “expanding 5G and promoting competition in internet service are critical priorities” of his administration.
“My team has been engaging non-stop with the wireless carriers, airlines, and aviation equipment manufacturers to chart a path forward for 5G deployment and aviation to safely co-exist – and, at my direction, they will continue to do so until we close the remaining gap and reach a permanent, workable solution around these key airports.” Biden said.
Executives at Verizon and AT&T had disputed the legitimacy of the FAA’s claims, citing the similar 5G services already in operation in countries across the world, including Japan and France.
“The laws of physics are the same in the United States and France,” said AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg in a joint letter to Buttigieg and the FAA last week. “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.”
While both companies reluctantly agreed to delay Wednesday’s launch near airports, neither specified in their statements where the new measures would be applied. As a result, some airlines were already forced to delay and cancel flights due to 5G rollouts.
Emirates announced Tuesday the suspension of flights to several U.S. destinations beginning on Jan. 19 “due to operational concerns associated with the planned deployment of 5G mobile network services.”