UPDATE: 1:20 p.m.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T and Verizon Communications on Tuesday agreed to temporarily defer turning on some wireless towers near key airports to avert a significant disruption to U.S. flights.
Both AT&T and Verizon will launch new C-Band 5G wireless service on Wednesday but agreed to delay some deployment near airports that had threatened to result in massive flights cancellations.
AT&T and Verizon in November agreed to delay deployment by 30 days until Jan. 5. Earlier this month, they again agreed to delay deployment until Jan. 19 and take new steps to reduce potential interference and provide buffer zones around key airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration has warned that potential 5G wireless interference could affect sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters and significantly hamper low-visibility operations.
Still the announcements will not entirely solve the problem and officials warned they still expect some delays and issues tied to 5G involving some specific airplanes.
It was not immediately clear how many towers the wireless companies agreed not to activate, but airlines in recent days had proposed temporarily keeping dark 10% of towers, or about 500, sources told Reuters. Nearly all but a handful of the impacted sites are Verizon towers.
The White House took an active role Tuesday in convincing wireless carriers to again delay some service. “We’re committed to reaching a solution around 5G,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said before Verizon’s announcement
Airlines have been preparing to cancel a significant number of passenger and cargo flights in the coming hours to prepare for new 5G C-Band service that starts on Wednesday, after warning on Monday of “catastrophic” impacts. Airlines are concerned that the issue could prevent them from flying Boeing 777s and other widebody jets to many key airports.
The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers on Monday said new 5G service could render a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable, “could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas” and cause chaos for U.S. flights.
The airlines asked Sunday “that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles (3.2 km) of airport runways” at some key airports.
Verizon’s rollout plan is much more aggressive than AT&T’s. It is significantly impacted by the Biden administration request to delay using some towers near airport runways.
AT&T and Verizon won significant C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year.
Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg told employees on Jan. 4 the carrier saw no aviation safety issue with 5G.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
ORIGINAL STORY:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration is working with wireless carriers, airlines, airplane manufacturers and key federal agencies to resolve a looming aviation crisis, a senior administration official told Reuters.
Airlines are preparing to cancel a significant number of passenger and cargo flights in the coming hours to prepare for AT&T and Verizon’s new 5G C-Band service that starts on Wednesday, after warning on Monday of “catastrophic” impacts.
Airlines want wireless carriers to not turn on some wireless towers near airport runways in a bid to avoid most of the flight disruptions.
The White House wants “a solution that maximizes 5G deployment while protecting air safety and minimizing disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations, and our economic recovery,” the official said.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that potential interference could affect sensitive airplane instruments such as altimeters and significantly hamper low-visibility operations.
The airlines asked Sunday “that 5G be implemented everywhere in the country except within the approximate 2 miles (3.2 km) of airport runways” at some key airports.
Discussions are centered around that proposal that would also allow about 90% of the wireless tower deployment to go forward, sources told Reuters, though it would impact 5G deployment near many large population centers.
Two other sources said it would require delaying about 500 towers from being activated.
Alaska Airlines Chief Executive Ben Minicucci said Tuesday in a statement “there’s a serious threat of mounting cancellations, delays and diversions of our passenger and cargo flights if action is not taken immediately.”
AT&T and Verizon, which won significant C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion auction last year, on Jan. 3 agreed to buffer zones around 50 airports to reduce interference risks and take other steps to cut potential interference for six months. They also agreed to delay deployment for two weeks until Wednesday.
But any deal would require Verizon and AT&T to agree to a new delay of some 5G service. They did not comment Tuesday.
Verizon Chief Executive Hans Vestberg told employees on Jan. 4 the carrier saw no aviation safety issue with 5G, but reluctantly agreed to a two-week delay that expires Wednesday.
The chief executives of major U.S. passenger and cargo carriers on Monday said new 5G service could render a significant number of widebody aircraft unusable, “could potentially strand tens of thousands of Americans overseas” and cause chaos for U.S. flights.
“Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” wrote the chief executives of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and others.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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