Posted on 01/18/22
| News Source: The Hill
AT&T and Verizon on Tuesday each agreed to temporarily delay their 5G rollouts near certain airports amid concerns over possible flight disruptions.
The move follows mounting outside pressure and comes amid warnings from U.S. airlines that new 5G wireless service that was set to start Wednesday could ground flights and leave potentially thousands of Americans stranded while also delaying goods.
“At our sole discretion we have voluntarily agreed to temporarily defer turning on a limited number of towers around certain airport runways as we continue to work with the aviation industry and the FAA to provide further information about our 5G deployment, since they have not utilized the two years they’ve had to responsibly plan for this deployment,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement.
Verizon, in their own statement, said it also "voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports."
AT&T and Verizon, which were slated to start rolling out 5G service earlier this month, eventually agreed to hold off for several weeks at the request of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator (FAA) Steve Dickson. The companies are now expected to begin deploying the service Wednesday.
But patience is wearing thin as airlines and top Democrats have requested that both cell phone carriers hold off on rolling out their services in certain areas close to airports amid concerns over possible flight disruptions.
“We are frustrated by the FAA’s inability to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services, and we urge it do so in a timely manner,” the AT&T spokesperson said.