The rollout of 5G data has slowed down due to concerns about the potential effects on aviation.
Service providers AT&T and Verizon announced late on Monday that they would delay the deployment of 5G wireless services after the Federal Aviation Administration requested the delay to mitigate interference with airplane safety systems.
“At Secretary [Pete] Buttigieg’s request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services,” an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement sent to the Washington Examiner. “We also remain committed to the six-month protection zone mitigations we outlined in our letter. We know aviation safety and 5G can co-exist, and we are confident further collaboration and technical assessment will allay any issues.”
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This delay was affirmed by Verizon’s spokesman, who told the Washington Post that the company would also delay the 5G rollout by two weeks.
Representatives of the aviation industry have regularly expressed concerns about how 5G could disrupt specific automated cockpit systems, such as those used to land during poor weather. The issue came to a head in fall 2021.
The two companies had initially planned to deploy 5G services on Dec. 5. However, they were asked in November to delay the rollout plan by a month in response to the FAA’s request to investigate how 5G may affect the cockpit systems.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg requested a second delay of the 5G rollout on Jan. 1 to ensure that the FAA could mitigate any risks. Verizon and AT&T had initially resisted the request, stating on Sunday that the delay would be an “unprecedented and unwarranted circumvention of the due process” as well as an “irresponsible abdication” of the responsibilities required to rollout the 5G networks to the fullest extent.
The FAA said in a statement that it “thanks AT&T and Verizon for agreeing to a voluntary delay and for their proposed mitigations. We look forward to using the additional time and space to reduce flight disruptions associated with this 5G deployment.”
The Federal Communication Commission pushed back against the decision, arguing in a Jan. 1 letter that the request for another delay was “not backed up by the science, engineering, or law.”
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FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr claims that the plan to deploy 5G was made “over 660 days ago in a thorough, 258-page” document and that the delay would hinder “years of work and tens of billions of dollars in investment.”
Once both companies and regulatory agencies have finalized the agreement, AT&T and Verizon will resume 5G services on Jan. 19.
Verizon did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
