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A340 on land approach to London
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US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and the head of the American aviation safety authority, the FAA, Steve Dickson, have asked the telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon Communications to suspend their planned introduction of 5G mobile communications. The reason for this are safety concerns in the aviation industry. The cell phone operators are being asked "to postpone the introduction of the commercial C-band service for a short period of no more than two weeks beyond the date currently scheduled for January 5th," said a letter from the two authorities.
The FAA and US airlines had expressed concern several times about possible interference from 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics such as radio altimeters.
The aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing also recently warned of the
"
enormous negative effects on the aviation industry" from 5G.
Both Verizon and AT&T said they had received the letter from the US authorities and were reviewing it.
The two companies had recently accused the aviation industry of holding the provision of C-band spectrum hostage until the wireless industry agreed to pay the cost of upgrading obsolete radio altimeters.
Buttigieg and Dickson said the commercial C-band service would begin as planned in January, with certain exceptions near priority airports.
The FAA and the aviation industry would identify these as the FAA finalizes its assessment of the G5's potential for interference.
This will ensure the activation of 5G mobile communications by March 31st - provided no unforeseen problems arise.
sbo / Reuters
