AT&T and Verizon Delay Launch of Faster 5G, After FAA Says Wireless Service Could Interfere with Airline Safety

By Yehudit Garmaise

After the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other aviation groups feared that a new, faster 5G wireless service, when it is located near aircraft towers and other equipment that use frequencies to compute altitude, could compromise airline safety, AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. delayed the new service’s rollout by two weeks: to Jan. 19, instead of tomorrow.

AT&T and Verizon were responding to significant pressure from aviation groups, who yesterday were bombarding the wireless industry and the US White House with not just a flurry of phone calls, but threats of litigation.

“It’s clear that this irresponsible rollout of 5G wasn’t ready for takeoff,” Joe DePete, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said in a statement about the new wireless service that AT&T and Verizon planned to launch on Jan. 5. “Now the real work begins.”

In the next two weeks, airlines and safety officials will take steps to prevent the new 5G’s interference with aircraft electronics.

Once the 5G are switched on near runways, for instance, the FAA has said it plans to issue flight restrictions that will allow altimeter manufacturers to demonstrate they can function safely in the new environment or apply patches that can shield any interference to the aviation equipment.

In separate statements yesterday, both AT & T and Verizon agreed to continue during the delay “to work in good faith with aviation stakeholders” on ways to reduce the chances that 5G interferes with individual radar altimeter models and at specific airport locations, according to a letter and terms that was publicized today by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, the FAA administrator.

President Joe Biden today called the delay in rolling out the new 5G, “a significant step in the right direction, however, as part of the deal, Biden promised that he will not seek further delay in deploying 5G services in the relevant frequencies at issue, the letter said. 

“This agreement ensures that there will be no disruptions to air operations over the next two weeks and puts us on track to substantially reduce disruptions to air operations when AT&T and Verizon launch 5G on January 19th,” Biden said.