According to Bloomberg News, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc have agreed to defer a new 5G service by two weeks that the airlines say is likely to intervene with the electronics of the aircraft and prove to be a safety hazard.
Separate statements were issued by these companies Monday night, just two days before the scheduled launch of the service on January 5th. The action was taken following a series of calls for the industry and White House by the aviation groups that sought a delay and as they threatened to take legal action.
The United States Federal Aviation Administration had plans to issue several hundred notices stating restrictions for the runways of the airports, flight routes, and heliports, which if revealed could lead to noticeable disruptions to the aviation system.
The issue revolves around the fact that a new and faster band of 5G wireless services are positioned at proximity to frequencies that are made use of by the aircraft equipment to compute altitude. The FAA and Aviation groups fear that the frequencies might intervene with the safety, especially in those areas that have lower visibility.
The service was, however, approved by the Federal Communications Commission as they said that the service would not pose to be of any risk.
The agreements raise the prospect of litigation that would try to forcibly stop FCC so that the use of airwaves could be stopped by the wireless providers, as reported by Bloomberg News.
The shares of Verizon and AT&T escalated by less than 1% before regular trading started Tuesday in New York, while the biggest US airline’s stocks advanced by about just 1%.
The wireless providers decided not to install towers close to a few airports for six months, provided the aviation industry decided not to escalate the protest of the new 5G service. Bloomberg News reports that AT&T said it agrees to defer at the Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s request. The company also revealed that it is committed to halting close to airports.
Rich Young, the Verizon spokesman, stated that the company has agreed to a delay for two weeks with the promise of giving the country the game-changing 5G service in January. However, earlier Monday, Young did not approve of the idea of deferring the same.
