The Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Secretary requested that the launch of 5G wireless services be delayed due to interference with airline electronics.
The CEOs of AT&T and Verizon wrote a letter on Sunday stating that they intend to go ahead with their 5G launch on January 5, after agreeing to a month-long delay from their previously scheduled December launch date.
On New Year's Eve, we received a letter from you asking us to take more voluntary steps to assist the aviation industry, which is in danger of being rendered useless by the deployment of the C-Band spectrum.
The letter was written in response to a memo sent by Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson on December 31 that detailed concerns surrounding 5G's potential for "widespread and unacceptable disruption" within the airline industry. The request to delay the roll out by two weeks was included in the memo.
The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the latest letter from the wireless companies on how to mitigate interference from 5G C- Band transmissions, a spokesman told Insider on Sunday.
The next actions will be guided by U.S. aviation safety standards.
Stankey and Vestberg wrote in the letter that AT&T and Verizon paid "tens of billions" of dollars to the US government and satellite services for widespread spectrum service in preparation for the implementation of 5G services.
The executives said that their efforts came after the US government declared it was "lagging behind China" in 5G services, as well as following the auction of the C-Band spectrum in February 2021.
40 countries have already deployed 5G services without any negative impact on aviation, according to the executives.
The executives wrote in the letter that they care about the safety of their customers, employees, and families. The question of whether 5G operations can coexist with aviation has been settled, and our two companies are deeply committed to public safety and national security.
