The US FAA says Verizon and AT&T agreed to delay some C-Band 5G usage until July 2023 as airlines retrofit some airplane radio altimeters to limit interference
ReutersDavid Shepardson
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the third act in a standoff that began when AT&T and Verizonpostponed their December C-band launch to address FAA concerns about interference with cockpit systems, then bowed to pressure from the FAA, airlines, and the Transportation Secretary with a two-week delay in January. What changed today is duration and structure: instead of another short pause, the carriers have voluntarily committed to keeping some C-Band usage limited until July 2023, explicitly tied to airlines retrofitting radio altimeters.
First-order effects
Verizon and AT&T accept continued restrictions on parts of their newly paid-for C-Band spectrum near airports through July 2023, trading immediate deployment breadth for regulatory goodwill.
Airlines gain a defined window to retrofit radio altimeters on affected aircraft before full-power 5G operations begin around airports.
Second-order effects
The FAA's success in extracting voluntary concessions twice — first the January pause after the Transportation Secretary's direct request, now a six-month-plus commitment — hands the agency a template for conditioning future spectrum launches on aviation-safety mitigations.
Carriers' network planning around airports must be sequenced against airline retrofit schedules, making altimeter upgrade progress the de facto gating factor for C-Band revenue in those zones.
Third-order effects
If this pattern holds, US spectrum policy shifts from auction-then-launch toward negotiated, safety-conditioned rollouts, with the FAA holding effective veto power over how adjacent bands are deployed near aviation infrastructure.
Aircraft radio-altimeter retrofit requirements could become a standing cost line for airlines whenever new terrestrial wireless bands are activated, formalizing a coexistence standard between telecom and aviation industries.
The trend: US wireless spectrum deployment is moving from launch-first auctions to regulator-negotiated rollouts, with aviation safety agencies setting the conditions under which new 5G bands go live.
The Administration's turbulent & irregular approach to 5G continues - needlessly risking our global leadership. Congress authorized the FCC - not DOT - to set 5G power & operating rules. Yet DOT just supplanted the FCC's regime through a closed-door deal https://www.faa.gov/...
The @FAANews has not been transparent in their analysis and recommendations regarding susceptibility to C-band 5G emissions by Radio Altimeters. The corrective action has not been detailed publicly nor any address towards MOPS and continued airworthiness of functions that use RA.…
C-Band 5G and the FAA drama isn't over yet. FAA announces that Verizon and AT&T have offered “some level of voluntary mitigations for another year.” C-Band around airports was supposed to be on hold until July 5, 2022. Now it is July 2023. https://www.faa.gov/...
The FAA announces a longer-term plan to let aviation “safely co-exist” with 5G around airports. Telcos pledged to keep their voluntary limitations in place until July 2023, while airlines will have to retrofit affected planes with new equipment by then. https://www.faa.gov/...
.@FAANews announced that an agreement has been reached regarding the deployment of #CBand spectrum near U.S. airports. The following statement may be attributed to Craig Silliman, EVP and Chief Administrative Officer for @Verizon: https://www.verizon.com/... https://twitter.com/.…
836 days after the @FCC urged aviation industry to “take appropriate action, if necessary, to ensure protection of [altimeters],” the FAA says wireless carriers “voluntarily” agreed to delay #5G for another *year* as airlines retrofit certain altimeters. https://www.reuters.com/.…