WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, Reuters -- The chief executives of AT&T and Verizon Communications declined a request to delay the planned Jan. 5 introduction of new 5 G wireless service over aviation safety concerns, but offered to temporarily adopt new safeguards.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson had asked AT&T CEO John Stankey and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg for a commercial deployment delay of no more than two weeks.
The wireless companies said on Sunday that they would not deploy 5 G around airports for six months, but rejected any broader limitation on using C-Band spectrum. They said the Transportation Department proposal would be an irresponsible abdication of the operating control required to deploy world-class and globally competitive communications networks. The FAA and Transportation Department did not immediately make a statement.
The FAA and the aviation industry have raised concerns about possible interference of 5 G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters that could disrupt flights.
The carriers said that AT&T and Verizon propose to use the exclusion zone in France, with slight adaptations that reflect modest technical differences in how C-band is deployed. The laws of physics are the same in the United States and France, according to the CEOs. If the US airlines are allowed to operate flights every day in France, then the same operating conditions should allow them to do so in the United States. Officials said the exclusion zones proposed by wireless carriers are not as large as what was sought by the FAA.
The FAA and Buttigieg proposed on Friday identifying priority airports where a buffer zone would allow aviation operations to continue safely while the FAA completes its assessments of interference potential. The government would work to identify mitigations for all priority airports to allow most large commercial aircraft to operate safely in all conditions. Airline unions have expressed support for Buttigieg's proposal.
The wireless carriers that won the C-Band spectrum in an $80 billion government auction agreed to precautionary measures for six months to limit interference.
Trade group Airlines for America, representing American Airlines, Fedex Corp, and other carriers, asked the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday to halt the deployment of many airports, warning that thousands of flights could be disrupted daily.
If the FCC doesn't act, the airline group has said it may go to court on Monday.
Wireless industry group CTIA said 5 G is safe and spectrum is being used in about 40 other countries.