When AT&T and Verizon activate their new C-Band 5G networks on Wednesday, the aircraft industry predicts a “catastrophic” occurrence. The CEOs of six major passenger and freight airlines, including Delta, United, and Southwest, warn that interference from 5G cell towers could compromise important safety equipment on their planes in a letter obtained by Reuters. “Unless our major hubs are cleared to fly, the vast majority of the travelling and shipping public will be essentially grounded,” they write in a letter to the White House Economic Council, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“Immediate action is required to avoid major operational disruptions for aviation passengers, shippers, the supply chain, and the delivery of critical medical supplies.”AT&T and Verizon have been requested not to deploy 5G service within 2 miles of some of the country’s busiest and most important airports. They’re also pressing the federal government to ensure that “5G is deployed except when towers are too close to airport runways until the FAA can establish how that can be done safely and without catastrophic interruption,” unless the FAA can figure out how to do so safely. On January 7th, the FAA established 5G buffer zones at 50 airports.
The letter is the latest in a long series of exchanges between the airline and wireless sectors. At the start of 2021, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon spent over $80 billion to secure the repurposed C-Band spectrum that the FCC had put up for sale. AT&T and Verizon agreed in November to postpone their C-Band rollouts until January 5th to allow the FAA to address any potential interference issues. They later proposed reducing the power output of cell towers near airports, and on January 4th, they agreed to another two-week delay.
“When 5G signals are deployed near runways, they may interfere with crucial safety equipment that pilots rely on to take off and land in adverse weather,” United Airlines warned in a statement to The Verge. Without additional safeguards, the deployment of this 5G spectrum could “result in significant restrictions on 787s, 777s, 737s, and regional aircraft in major cities” and “hundreds of thousands of flight cancellations and disruptions for customers across the industry in 2022, [as well as] the suspension of cargo flights into these locations,” according to the report.
Despite the fact that there is legally 220MHz of space between the plane’s equipment and the new 5G spectrum, airlines are concerned that older equipment on some planes may still be affected. Concerns over air safety have already caused the C-band rollout to be pushed back from December to this week.
United wants 5G to be available “anywhere in the country on Jan. 19, except within about 2 miles of airport runways at affected airports,” according to the company. It suggests that, after further investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, the size of this buffer could be reduced (FAA). Verizon and AT&T already agreed on January 3rd to take efforts to limit the potential impact on aviation, including establishing six-month buffer zones around 50 airports.
According to one tech trade group, C-band spectrum has previously been used in nearly 40 nations without producing altimeter failures, and United claims that the correct government rules might allow for a safe deployment in the US.
This new spectrum, which AT&T and Verizon paid $65 billion for in an auction last year, has a lot riding on it. Both companies want the additional spectrum to meet the traffic demands of 5G, especially since AT&T expects to phase out its 3G network next month.
