Telephone operators Verizon and AT&T have postponed the launch of new frequency bands for their 5G network in the United States while they discuss with the United States Aviation Agency (FAA) potential interference problems with devices measuring l altitude in airplanes.
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The two companies
"have announced that they will voluntarily suspend the commercial launch of a wireless service on C-band in order to further assess any impact on technologies ensuring aviation safety,"
said the FAA and the Commission. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees the rollout of 5G in the country, in a joint message.
Verizon and AT&T were to begin using the 3.7-3.8 GHz frequency bands on December 5, which were allocated to them in February following a tender of several tens of billions of dollars.
FAA concerns
But the FAA on Tuesday issued a special bulletin to aircraft and radio altimeter manufacturers recommending that they transmit specific information on these instruments making it possible to measure the distance of an aircraft from the ground and operating on frequency bands between 4, 2 and 4.4 GHz. The regulator also recommends that airlines warn their pilots of a possible degradation of the capabilities of radio altimeters and that pilots remind passengers that electrical devices in the hold must be turned off and those in the cabin in airplane mode.
"It has not yet been reported of proven examples of interference due to wireless telephone networks at the international level
,
"
however, underlines the FAA in its message.
The operator AT&T specified in a message sent to AFP that it was suspending the deployment of the new frequency bands until January 5,
"the time to continue to work in good faith with the FCC and the FAA to understand the concerns expressed by the FAA ”
on possible interference between the frequency bands used for 5G and for aviation.
“It is essential that these discussions are informed by science and data.
This is the only way to allow experts and engineers to assess whether there are legitimate coexistence problems
,
”
adds AT&T.
