The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has asked Verizon and AT&T to delay the introduction of C-band service, which promises to offer 5G experiences that are noticeably better than 4G, around “priority airports” due to ongoing concerns about the potential impact on altimeters.
Altimeters measure their aircraft’s current altitude. Interfering with that information could make landing a plane during inclement weather more dangerous. The FAA is tasked with making flight as safe as possible, so it wants to determine if C-band deployments could endanger flyers.
As for why Verizon, AT&T, and other companies are interested in C-band: The goal is to introduce 5G networks that can outperform LTE across large distances. Many existing 5G networks, especially in the US, are forced to choose between performance and range.
The administration previously asked Verizon and AT&T to delay their C-band rollout from Dec. 5 to Jan. 5. The companies agreed, but on Dec. 31, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and FAA administrator Steve Dickson asked for more time to evaluate C-band’s safety implications.
“Under this framework,” the duo says, “commercial C-band service would begin as planned in January with certain exceptions around priority airports. The FAA and the aviation industry will 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.”
Buttigieg and Dickson also say the FAA’s goal is for 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.”
But first the FAA wants Verizon and AT&T to delay C-band’s debut “for an additional short period of no more than two weeks beyond the currently scheduled deployment date of January 5” so it can determine what qualifies as a “priority airport” and how large the buffer zone needs to be.
FCC commissioner Brendan Carr has publicly criticized the FAA’s request:
But neither the rollout of C-band in other countries nor assurances that it won’t interfere with altimeters have stopped the FAA from issuing this latest request.
“We are an aviation nation because flying is safe,” Buttigieg and Dickson say. “Our safe aviation systems and thriving aviation industry are profoundly important to America’s economy and our way of life. We know you share the desire to keep aviation safe and efficient, and we urge you to seriously consider this solution as a common-sense way forward.”
