Late on Friday, four significant U.S. wireless carriers informed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that they have reached a voluntary agreement to address issues related to aviation safety and permit full use of the C-Band wireless spectrum for 5G use.
The letter from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile US, and UScellular was filed with the FCC on Friday. It stated that “these voluntary pledges will support full-power deployments across C-Band and are tailored to minimize the operational impact on our C-Band operations.”
According to the letter and others engaged in the negotiations, the agreement is a significant step forward that allows carriers to increase power levels in order to achieve full C-Band use. It was reached after lengthy conversations with the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA).
Last year, there were brief disruptions at some U.S. airports as a result of international carriers canceling some flights due to worries that 5G service could interfere with airplane altimeters, which provide information on a plane’s height above the ground and are essential for landing in inclement weather.
While air carriers labored to adapt airplane altimeters, Verizon and AT&T voluntarily decided to postpone limited C-Band 5G usage until July. When the deal was announced, T-Mobile and UScellular had not yet started their deployment.
The FAA, Verizon, and AT&T were in discussions to come to a new deal that attempted to continue some voluntary mitigation past July 1.
The business will be able to fully utilize its C-band spectrum for 5G by the previously agreed-upon deadline of July 1, according to Verizon, which announced Friday that it has “committed to final voluntary commitments.”
According to AT&T, the application “is the outcome of cooperative and fruitful negotiations with the FAA.”
Some of such obligations might continue until 2028. According to two persons with knowledge of the situation, the FAA had initially wanted to prolong several provisions through 2033.
The FCC did not respond right away. In order to ensure a secure coexistence in the US 5G C-band environments, the FAA stated on Friday that it “continues to cooperate closely.”
According to UScellular the “agreement is the result of teamwork and coordination with the FAA, FCC, and our industry partners to ensure UScellular can quickly deploy our C-band spectrum.”
The world’s largest airline trade group issued a warning last month that many airlines will fail to fulfill impending U.S. deadlines for retrofitting airplane altimeters to make them resistant to 5G wireless interference.
At an $80 billion auction, wireless providers acquired the spectrum, with Verizon paying $52.9 billion.
