By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with the FAA to allow for the use of drones in commercial aviation. Verizon Communications (NYSE:) and AT&T (NYSE:) can safely turn on more towers for C-Band 5G deployment.

According to FAA, the two wireless carriers have “committed to steps to enable more aircrafts to safely access key airports and allow for more towers to provide 5G service.” FAA stated that more detailed data regarding the precise location of wireless transmitters enabled it to “determine that it’s safe and more accurately map the sizes and shapes of areas surrounding airports where 5G Signals are Mitigated, shrinking areas where wireless Operators are delaying their antenna activations.”

AT&T and Verizon on agreed on Jan. 18 to temporarily not turn on about 510 towers near airports over the FAA’s concerns about interference with airplane radio altimeters averting what major airlines had said would be a “catastrophic” impact on U.S. aviation.

FAA intends to release updated documents by Friday. This will allow for additional operations in adverse weather conditions, “with new runways that were previously unavailable.” They will be sent to the operators quickly so that they can take scheduling decisions.

CTIA (an industry trade organization representing wireless carriers) called the FAA announcement “a positive step that highlights the substantial progress the wireless and aviation industries, FAA, and the Federal Communications Commission have made in ensuring robust 5G services and safe flight operations.”

FAA also stated that the 5G signals coming from certain towers which were within old protected areas and are now outside new protected areas does not pose an unacceptable safety risk to low-visibility aircraft. Therefore, the FAA was able to newly approve certain aircraft – specifically Airbus and Embraer 170/190s – for low-visibility approaches at airports where they couldn’t previously make them.”

Airline industry officials say the FAA plans to further refine the zones around airports at a later date that will allow Verizon and AT&T to use additional towers near airports. Officials told Reuters that about 500 towers were still un-activated last week.