Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, and Steve Dickson, the Federal Aviation Administration administrator, sent a letter on Dec. 31, 2021, to the heads of AT&T and Verizon, asking them to extend a delay of their companies’ launch of 5G wireless communications service in radio-frequency spectrum known as C-band, at least in areas near what they called priority airports. The companies had been planning to start using the frequencies, the rights to which they purchased in an FCC auction, on Jan. 5.
“We recognize the significant investment your companies made to launch 5G C-band service, and the importance of expanding 5G service for the American economy,” a letter from the two officials reads. “At the same time, absent further action, the economic stakes for the aviation industry and the disruptions the traveling public would face from commercial launch of C-Band service on Jan. 5 are significant, particularly with the ongoing stress and uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Accordingly, we seek to build on our productive discussions by offering the attached proposal as a near-term solution for advancing the co-existence of 5G deployment in the C-Band and safe flight operations.”
The letter said that under the framework in the proposal, commercial C-band service would begin as planned in January with certain exceptions around priority airports. The FAA and the aviation industry would identify priority airports where a buffer zone would permit aviation operations to continue safely while the FAA completes its assessments of the interference potential around those airports, the letter reads.
“Our goal would then be to identify mitigations for all priority airports that will enable the majority of large commercial aircraft to operate safely in all conditions,” the officials said. “This will allow for 5G C-band to deploy around these priority airports on a rolling basis, such that C-Band planned locations will be activated by the end of March 2022, barring unforeseen technical challenges or new safety concerns. Meanwhile, the FAA will safely expedite the approvals of Alternate Means of Compliance (AMOCs) for operators with high-performing radio altimeters to operate at those airports.”
The action Buttigieg and Dickson took in writing to the heads of the two wireless carriers followed Airlines for America’s Dec. 30, 2021, filing with the FCC of an emergency request to delay the rollout of 5G wireless service. A membership organization, Airlines for America represents North American airlines. Referring to the potential for harmful interference to aviation navigation systems that use C-band frequencies, Airlines for America said that the FCC “has never provided a reasoned analysis of why it has rejected the evidence submitted by the aviation interests,” as reported by Bloomberg News.
As cited by the news website The Hill, Bloomberg said that the wireless companies agreed to roll out the 5G service at reduced power for a temporary amount of time in order to compromise with airline groups, but Airlines for America said that would not be enough.