AT&T delays 5G rollout near some airports after airlines warned of cancellations
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Southwest Airlines aircraft approaches San Diego International Airport to land. The FAA, U.S. telecom firms, airlines, as well as the FAA, continue to talk about the potential effects of 5G wireless service on plane electronics in San Diego.
Reuters| Reuters
AT&TOn Tuesday, the company said that it would not deploy 5G service to towers close to some U.S. states after warnings from airlines about flight cancellations.
Just hours earlier, the Biden administration had stated it was in negotiations with telecom companies as well as government agencies regarding the dispute.
AT&T and Verizon are scheduled to begin the 5G rollout on Wednesday. AT&T said it would temporarily delay deploying the 5G technology while it worked with federal regulators on a solution.
“At our sole discretion we have voluntarily agreed to temporarily defer turning on a limited number of towers around certain airport runways as we 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. We are 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. We are launching our advanced 5G services everywhere else as planned with the temporary exception of this limited number of towers,” AT&T said in a statement.
AT&T didn’t immediately say how many airports were affected and how long the delays would last.
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