FAA: AT&T, Verizon 5G C-Band Coming to an Airport Near You Soon-ish
Earlier this year, Verizon and AT&T delayed full C-band 5G deployments around select airports at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but that should be resolved by July 2023, the agency said this week.
"We believe we have identified a path that will continue to enable aviation and 5G C-band wireless to safely co-exist," Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement(Opens in a new window). "We appreciate the willingness of Verizon and AT&T to continue this important and productive collaboration with the aviation industry."
The carriers were originally supposed to fully deploy their C-band networks in early December, but delayed that to Jan. 5 amid FAA concerns about interference with the altimeters used by commercial aircraft. By Jan. 2, though, the FAA said it needed to more fully investigate the risks of C-band 5G, and the carriers reluctantly agreed to create 5G "buffer zones" around 50 airports for at least six months.
The carriers will now "continue with some level of voluntary mitigations for another year"—or July 2023, the agency says. "After that time, the wireless companies expect to operate their networks in urban areas with minimal restrictions."
In the meantime, companies that operate regional aircraft with radio altimeters most susceptible to interference—Embraer, Boeing, Airbus, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries—must retrofit them with radio frequency filters by the end of 2022. "This work has already begun and will continue on an expedited basis," the FAA says.
In a statement(Opens in a new window), Craig Silliman, EVP and Chief Administrative Officer for Verizon, says that after "months of close collaboration with the FAA, FCC and aviation industry," the carrier "will lift
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