AT&T and Verizon’s 5G was to use certain C-band frequencies, allowing better bandwidth, as of January 5 … but that was without counting on the FAA. The Federal Aviation Administration asked the two American operators to postpone the deployment of their new 5G band for another two weeks. These frequencies have the particularity of cohabiting with those used, among others, by air transport telecommunications equipment, but also by part of the electronic systems on board aircraft. Among them, radar altimeters which provide data on the distance between the aircraft and the ground.
This new postponement should allow US authorities to investigate the risks of interference that the use of C-band by 5G mainstream could cause. In the case of radar altimeters, interference could lead to dangerous landings. As a reminder, 5G applications are only supposed to use the lower spectrum of the C band, precisely to avoid any risk of interference. As specified Engadget, the giants of the wireless industry ensure that the difference between the different frequencies of the C band is large enough to avoid interference.
The government puts a stop to the development of the Health Data Hub
A strategic deployment for AT&T and Verizon
These arguments had initially pushed AT&T and Verizon to decline the request for postponement formulated by the American authorities. The two firms argued in particular that honoring this request would be to the detriment of their respective clients. The operators subsequently tried to negotiate a compromise, for example by declaring that they were open to a six-month hiatus from the deployment of their 5G near certain airports. Eventually, AT&T and Verizon both agreed to temporarily pause their 5G rollout on C-band.
” We have agreed to a two-week deadline that will allow us [quand même] to offer the nation a revolutionary 5G network in January (…) », Commented Verizon, contacted by Engadget.
AT&T, for its part, is a little more talkative: “ At the request of Secretary Buttigieg, we have voluntarily agreed to delay the deployment of our 5G C-band services for an additional two weeks. We also commit to respecting the mitigation measures in the protection zones (… ). We know that aviation safety and 5G can coexist and we are confident that continued collaboration and technical assessment will resolve any issues. “.