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The battle between the FAA, AT&T, Verizon, and airlines over 5G

When AT&T and Verizon spent tens of billions of dollars for the rights to use the C-band spectrum for their 5G service, the carriers saw it as a way to expand their networks and make them faster. Those plans, however, sparked a feud with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which warned that the cell signals could interfere with the altimeters that pilots use to land in conditions with low visibility. (Could is a keyword — if everything is working correctly, there shouldn’t be problems, but with jets that can hold hundreds of people, it’s understandable why the FAA and airlines would want a lot of wiggle room.)

Before the carriers activated their C-band equipment, the FAA created rules around how airplanes could land in low-visibility conditions. The carriers agreed to delay their rollouts in November 2021, pushing the date to January 5th, and also said they’d run their equipment at lower power around airports for six months, creating buffer zones and allowing the regulator more time to analyze the situation.

Then, the FAA requested another delay. The carriers initially rejected it before cutting a deal to push the date back to January 15th. As that deadline neared, there was a flurry of activity. A coalition of airlines and shipping companies claimed that the rollout could cause “catastrophic disruption” if it went through, and the carriers announced that they put further limits on their rollout around airports but lambasted the FAA in their statements.

The same day, several international airlines announced that they were canceling flights to certain airports in the US. (The president of Emirates had some scathing remarks about how the situation was handled, calling the rollout “one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issues [...] I’ve seen in my aviation career” and saying that the airline didn’t have vital information until a few days before the rollout.)

On the 19th, AT&T and Verizon activated their cell networks, and the FAA cleared additional altimeters, saying that it should allow “an estimated 62 percent of the U.S. commercial fleet to perform low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies deployed 5G C-band.” The story is continuing to evolve as airlines announce delays or that they’ll be continuing service. You can follow the story as it continues to unfold here.

  • Emilia David

    Sep 1, 2023

    Emilia David

    Airline fears around 5G may finally be over

    Delta Airlines (STOCK)

    The concern that 5G signals could cause massive flight delays appears to finally be over now that Delta has upgraded its airplanes to avoid interference.

    Reuters reported the airline has finished updating the radio altimeters in its currently in-service fleet. Other aircraft out for planned maintenance will also be outfitted with the new altimeters. Delta told the Associated Press the update “means no Delta aircraft will be subject to additional weather-driven constraints.”

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  • Wes Davis

    Jun 25, 2023

    Wes Davis

    An upcoming 5G deadline could cause airline delays starting July 1st

    5G logo on an illustrated blue and green background.
    With the 5G C-band rollout complete, there may be some flight delays.
    Image: The Verge

    US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Friday there may be some airline delays or cancellations starting July 1st if the last remaining passenger jets haven’t upgraded their altimeters to deal with 5G interference, per a report from The Wall Street Journal report. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains that 5G C-band signals could interfere with radio wave emitters passenger jets use to measure how far they are from the ground, which pilots rely on when landing with low visibility.

    Though airlines aren’t actually required to get the new equipment in place until February 2024, those passenger jets that haven’t been certified for operation around C-band 5G signals by the first of July will not be allowed to land in certain low-visibility situations.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Feb 10, 2023

    Mitchell Clark

    How much will C-Band upgrades cost the airline industry?

    According to the International Air Transport Association, it’ll cost around $637.6 million to replace altimeters that don’t properly filter out C-Band 5G. That’s quite a bit more than the FAA’s $26 million estimate from January, though as Fierce Wireless points out the IATA probably “has an axe to grind” about the whole saga — it didn’t want carriers to get C-band from the start.


  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 10, 2023

    Mitchell Clark

    The FAA hopes airplanes and 5G can get along by early next year

    Photo of a 5G cell tower
    For over a year, the rollout of C-Band 5G around airports has been contentious.
    Photo: Mitchell Clark / The Verge

    The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing a solution to the long-running dust-up between the airline and cellular industries over 5G rollouts: stricter requirements for radio altimeters in airplanes, which would potentially go into effect early next year (via Bloomberg).

    The piece of safety equipment, which ties into several systems for most commercial jets, operates using radio frequencies that are similar to the 5G C-band radio waves that Verizon and AT&T have been rolling out after acquiring licenses to use the bands for billions of dollars. C-band is almost critical for 5G to live up to all the hype; it’s what allows carriers to offer incredible speeds without the minuscule range of mmWave.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jun 17, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    FAA says Verizon and AT&T will soon be able to use the good 5G

    Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

    The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, says it expects AT&T and Verizon to be able to more or less fully roll out their 5G C-band networks by July 2023, after multiple delays due to concerns about the radio waves affecting vital safety equipment on planes. The plan, which the FAA says is the result of collaboration between regulators, carriers, and the aviation industry, will allow carriers to turn on their equipment in “carefully considered phases” as airlines work to retrofit their planes with equipment that will mitigate any potential interference from cellular signals.

    As AT&T and Verizon were turning on their next-gen networks in January, the FAA protested and the carriers agreed to create buffer zones around dozens of airports in the US. The agreement was only meant to extend until July 2022. But at the time, it wasn’t clear how the problem would be resolved by then. Now, the carriers have agreed to keep limiting their C-band in certain areas for another year.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Feb 4, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    The House hearing on 5G and planes shows the ride isn’t over yet

    The first commercial flight out of the new Everett Paine Field Airport terminal takes off Monday, March 4, 2019. The inaugural flight left at 10 am, carrying state and local dignitaries to Portland, and two subsequent flights departed to Las Vegas and Pho
    Photo by Genna Martin/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

    On Thursday, after a month of confusion, delays, and canceled flights related to Verizon and AT&T’s rollout of 5G C-Band networks, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing to “discuss the impact that deployment of 5G technologies has on the aviation industry.”

    Anyone tuning in hoping for bombshell revelations would’ve been disappointed. While some of the testimony was enlightening, giving insight into how certain segments of the industry viewed the events, the main takeaway was that we have a long way to go before C-Band and aviation will be able to co-exist happily.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 28, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    The FAA, AT&T, and Verizon are getting closer to a solution for their 5G mess

    Communications weren’t always solid, but they’re picking back up.
    Communications weren’t always solid, but they’re picking back up.
    Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

    Regulators, carriers, and the airline industry seem to be figuring out the details surrounding the rollout of C-band 5G and its potential effects on air travel. According to the Federal Aviation Administration’s latest statement, “through continued technical collaboration, the FAA, Verizon, and AT&T have agreed on steps that will enable more aircraft to safely use key airports while also enabling more towers to deploy 5G service.”

    Carriers “have provided more precise data about the exact location of wireless transmitters and supported more thorough analysis of how 5G C-band signals interact with sensitive aircraft instruments,” according to an FAA statement released on Friday, which you can read in full below. Before AT&T and Verizon launched their upgraded cell tech last week, there were concerns from the FAA and airline industry that radar altimeters, which are vital instruments used to safely land planes in low visibility conditions, would improperly pick up the cell signals and give out inaccurate readings.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 28, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    Major airlines shrugged off 5G fiasco, but small regional carriers still face turbulence

    US-TRANSPORT-AVIATION
    “About 53% of the regional fleet” is facing restrictions.
    Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    In the lead-up to AT&T and Verizon’s rollout of their upgraded 5G C-band equipment, it seemed like the sky was falling.

    For years, the Federal Aviation Administration and airline organizations had voiced concerns that the upgraded cellular tech could interfere with vital safety equipment on planes, while the FCC and carriers insisted it was safe, pointing to similar rollouts in dozens of other countries. Even after several delays, there were still last-minute deals being made between carriers and regulators, with airlines banding together to warn that the activation could cause a “catastrophic disruption” to air travel and shipping. Several international airlines canceled flights to certain US airports.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 20, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    FAA estimates 78 percent of US planes can now land at airports with 5G C-band

    American Airlines Boing 777 Landing At London Heathrow
    There were concerns some altimeters might not properly filter 5G signals.
    Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    The FAA has announced that an “estimated 78 percent of the U.S. commercial fleet” have been cleared to land at airports with 5G C-band, even under low-visibility conditions. The agency’s statement comes after a week of controversy surrounding the rollout of AT&T and Verizon’s upgraded cellular tech, which saw US airlines warning of “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping and some international airlines announcing they’d halt flights to some US airports.

    At issue are concerns that some radio altimeters won’t properly ignore signals from the new 5G transmitters. While there are precautions that should keep this from happening, including creating buffer zones around airports, an incorrect altimeter reading could cause real problems during a low-visibility landing.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 19, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    The FAA says some 777s are cleared to fly to airports with 5G C-band

    Cell Tower
    Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

    The Federal Aviation Administration has announced that more planes will be able to land in low-visibility conditions despite the rollout of 5G C-band, including some models of the Boeing 777 aircraft that’s used by many international airlines. According to a statement from the regulatory agency, it’s cleared three more models of radar altimeters as safe and reliable, even in areas where the upgraded cellular technology has been rolled out. This change comes after several international airlines announced on Tuesday that they were suspending flights to some US airports due to the 5G C-band rollout.

    According to the FAA’s statement, which you can read in full below, it cleared three additional altimeters on Wednesday morning, after clearing two on January 16th. The FAA has been in a back-and-forth with AT&T and Verizon, claiming that the companies’ cell towers could interfere with equipment needed to safely land planes in low-visibility conditions. Earlier this month the carriers delayed their rollouts to give the FAA more time to test and clear altimeters, and have said they’ll limit C-band expansion around certain airports that frequently have low visibility conditions.

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 19, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    Emirates, Air India, and others cancel flights due to AT&T and Verizon’s 5G rollout

    Emirates Boeing 777 Cargo Plane Landing At Amsterdam
    Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    On Tuesday, Emirates, Air India, ANA, and Japan Airlines all announced that they were canceling some flights to the US due to this week’s rollout of C-band 5G over concerns it could potentially interfere with some instruments, particularly on Boeing 777 aircraft. This comes as cell carriers, federal agencies, airlines, and airplane manufacturers struggle to reach an agreement on policies regarding how the rollout should be handled. The situation has continued to evolve as AT&T and Verizon switch on their c-band, but it’s only gotten messier.

    ANA cites specific guidance from Boeing, saying that “Boeing has announced flight restrictions on all airlines operating the Boeing 777 aircraft.” Japan Airlines also cites a notification from Boeing, saying that it was told that “5G signals for U.S. mobile phones, which will begin operating in the U.S. on January 19, 2022, may interfere with the radio wave altimeter installed on the Boeing 777.”

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  • Mitchell Clark

    Jan 18, 2022

    Mitchell Clark

    AT&T and Verizon are limiting C-band 5G expansion around airports even more

    US-AVIATION-TELECOMMUNICATION
    AT&T says airlines “have not utilized the two years they’ve had to responsibly plan for this deployment.”
    Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    AT&T and Verizon have announced that they will push back plans to activate some 5G towers around airports after airline operators warned that the deployment could cause “catastrophic disruption” to travel and shipping. While both carriers have an agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration to create buffer zones around 50 airports, AT&T has confirmed to The Verge that it’s halting the rollout of even more towers than originally planned, and that the decision applies to a “limited number of towers around certain airport runways.” Verizon responded to an email asking if it was planning on doing more than the agreement requires with a statement that says it’s “voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports.”

    AT&T is clearly unhappy with the situation. In a statement to The Verge, it said that it will “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.” The statement also said that the company is “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.”

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  • Jon Porter

    Jan 18, 2022

    Jon Porter

    US airlines warn of ‘catastrophic disruption’ on Wednesday due to 5G activation

    United Airlines
    United Airlines was among those to issue a warning.
    Photo by Daniel Karmann/picture alliance via Getty Images

    CEOs from major US airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines warned that the impending deployment of new 5G spectrum on Wednesday, January 19th could cause “catastrophic disruption” for flights across the country. The warning, which was also signed by shipping companies including UPS Airlines and FedEx Express, was issued in a letter from the CEOs seen by Reuters, which said that both commercial and cargo flights could be affected.

    The letter was sent to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, and White House National Economic Council director Brian Deese, Reuters reports.

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  • Emma Roth

    Jan 8, 2022

    Emma Roth

    FAA lists 50 airports that will have 5G buffer zones ahead of C-band expansion

    Cell Tower
    Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

    With AT&T and Verizon set to bring their 5G expansion live on January 19th, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has chosen 50 airports (PDF) that will have buffer zones to help prevent flight disruptions (via Reuters and Wall Street Journal). Safety regulators picked airports based on location, traffic volume, and the likelihood of low visibility — all factors that may increase cancelations, delays, and diversions as both carriers roll out 5G C-band service.

    As pointed out by the Wall Street Journal, notably busy airports like Chicago O’Hare, Orlando International, Los Angeles International, and Dallas / Fort Worth International are included on the list, along with airports in locations that are often impacted by foggy conditions, such as Seattle / Tacoma International and San Francisco International.

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  • Russell Brandom

    Jan 4, 2022

    Russell Brandom

    Why AT&T and Verizon are feuding with the US government over a last-minute delay to 5G

    cell tower stock 1024

    The day after New Year’s, the CEOs of the two biggest wireless carriers in America sent a very angry letter to Pete Buttigieg. The companies had been working for years to launch a new portion of their 5G networks, a launch that had been scheduled for December and then unexpectedly pushed back due to vague air safety concerns. Now, the Department of Transportation was asking for more time, just days before the scheduled launch.

    “In addition to the tens of billions of dollars we paid to the U.S. Government for the spectrum and the additional billions of dollars we paid to the satellite companies to enable the December 2021 availability of the spectrum,” the CEOs wrote, “we have paid billions of dollars more to purchase the necessary equipment and lease space on towers. Thousands of our employees have worked non-stop for months to prepare our networks to utilize this spectrum.”

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  • Richard Lawler

    Jan 4, 2022

    Richard Lawler

    Verizon and AT&T cut a deal with the FAA, will hit the brakes on 5G C-band rollouts

    Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg
    Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg
    Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

    In a standoff that’s pitting Verizon, AT&T, and the FCC versus the FAA and the airline industry over the two carrier’s plans to upgrade their 5G wireless services, the mobile companies now say they’ve reached an agreement with the Department of Transportation. For Verizon, delaying the launch of the “C-band” spectrum means canceling a celebration scheduled for 1PM ET on Tuesday, marking the beginning of its spectrum upgrade.

    Verizon:

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  • Richard Lawler

    Jan 2, 2022

    Richard Lawler

    AT&T, Verizon CEOs reject FAA request to delay 5G expansions scheduled to start January 5th

    Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg
    Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg
    Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

    In an ongoing battle pitting the FAA and airlines against the FCC, Verizon, and AT&T over their planned launch of mid-band 5G service, the mobile carriers are declining a request by the FAA for a two-week delay.

    Earlier this year, an FCC auction sold the two carriers rights to use so-called “C-band” frequencies at a price of nearly $70 billion. Verizon and AT&T are eager to roll it out so that in addition to offering ultra-fast 5G connectivity in specific areas using high-band millimeter-wave technology and much slower 5G over low-band frequencies, the new spectrum will provide in-between performance over much wider areas. T-Mobile currently uses mid-band spectrum that isn’t in the C-band.

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  • Sean Hollister

    Dec 7, 2021

    Sean Hollister

    5G now means some flights won’t be able to land when pilots can’t see the runway

    US-TELECOMMUNICATION-5G
    Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images

    Verizon and AT&T are hoping new swaths of C-band cellular radio spectrum will help make the 5G hype closer to reality, but the big mid-band 5G rollout may have a side effect. Airplanes rely on radio altimeters to tell how high they are above the ground to safely land when pilots can’t see, and the FAA is now instructing 6,834 of them to not do that at certain airports because of 5G interference.

    The FAA ruled on Tuesday that those thousands of US planes (and some helicopters) won’t be able to use many of the guided and automatic landing systems that are designed to work in poor visibility conditions, if they’re landing at an airport where there’s deemed to be enough interference that their altimeters aren’t reliable. “Landings during periods of low visibility could be limited due to concerns that the 5G signal could interfere with the accuracy of an airplane’s radio altimeter, without other mitigations in place,” FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford tells The Verge.

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  • Chris Welch

    Nov 24, 2021

    Chris Welch

    Verizon and AT&T offer to temporarily lower 5G’s power to avoid aircraft interference

    Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg
    Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg at CES 2019.
    Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

    As the Federal Aviation Administration continues examining whether mid-band 5G spectrum could pose a risk to aircraft safety systems, Verizon and AT&T have offered to dial back the power coming from 5G cell towers for a period of six months to ease any industry concerns. Both carriers are preparing to launch crucial upgrades to their respective 5G networks using spectrum acquired in the C-band auction. This will lead to more robust 5G connectivity and faster speeds compared to the base-level 5G experience that Verizon and AT&T currently offer today.

    In early November, both companies agreed to push back the rollout by an additional month to January 2022. In a letter sent to the FCC today, they made clear that they’ll be moving forward with the planned mid-band 5G launch at that time. “This spectrum will be the backbone of our 5G networks for many years to come,” the companies said in the letter, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

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  • Sean O'Kane

    Nov 4, 2021

    Sean O'Kane

    Verizon and AT&T delay crucial 5G expansion over aircraft interference concerns

    Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

    Verizon and AT&T are delaying the rollout of their wider 5G networks after the Federal Aviation Administration warned that the new wireless technology could interfere with the safety systems of some aircraft, The Wall Street Journal reports.

    The two companies planned to light up new 5G networks that use so-called “C-band” frequencies on December 5th. That rollout will now be delayed until at least January 5th, the companies said Thursday.

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  • Allison Johnson

    Feb 24, 2021

    Allison Johnson

    Verizon and AT&T just spent almost $70 billion on spectrum to improve their 5G networks

    The text “5G” on a green background.
    Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

    The much-anticipated results of the FCC’s Auction 107 are in, with Verizon and AT&T spending big as anticipated on the coveted C-band spectrum. Verizon in particular spent nearly twice as much as AT&T, with a total spend of $45.4 billion. AT&T’s total bid adds up to $23.4 billion. T-Mobile is in a distant third at $9.3 billion, which was also expected thanks to the strong midband spectrum holdings that the company already had following its acquisition of Sprint.

    There’s nothing outright surprising here: we’ve known for a while that the total bidding added up to over $80 billion, and that Verizon and AT&T in particular would be the top bidders. Those two carriers’ nationwide 5G networks currently rely on narrower low-band frequencies that offer speeds not much greater than 4G LTE — and extremely fast millimeter wave frequencies that face significant coverage challenges. If there’s any surprise here, it’s just how much more Verizon spent than AT&T.

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