The US transportation secretary requested that the next-generation 5G wireless technology be delayed, and the two companies agreed to do so.
The companies agreed to expandexclusion zones for six months after they rejected the government's request to delay the roll out of their 5G services.
The FAA and other aviation officials fear that the use of the C-band spectrum for 5G wireless services could interfere with sensitive aircraft electronics, disrupt flights and result in some diversions.
The Hill reported on Monday that a two-week delay was agreed to by the company, which promised that the 5G network would be delivered over America's best and most reliable wireless network in January.
An AT&T spokesman told The Hill that they had agreed to a two-week delay of their 5G deployment. The six-month protection zone mitigations we outlined in our letter remain our commitment. Aviation safety and 5G can coexist and we are confident that further collaboration and technical assessment will allay any issues.
The FAA Administrator and Buttigieg sent a letter to the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon asking them to delay the introduction of the new 5G wireless service due to aviation safety concerns.
The CEOs were asked to delay the roll out for two weeks as part of a proposal to advance the co-existence of 5G deployment in the C-Band and safe flight operations.
They wrote that they were aware of the investment your companies made to launch 5G C-band service.
Without further action, the economic stakes for the aviation industry and the disruptions the traveling public would face from commercial launch of C-Band service on January 5 are significant.
The CEOs said that they already agreed to a month-long delay when they pushed back the launch date.
If you agree to your proposal, it would be an unprecedented and unwarranted circumvention of the due process, and checks and balances carefully crafted in the structure of our democracy, but an irresponsible abdication of the operating control required to deploy world-class and globally competitive communications networks that are every
Stankey and Vestberg said they would expandexclusion zones for six months around certain airports, which they said would give the FAA and aviation officials more time to study the potential for interference with aircraft operations.
The CEOs noted that similar C-band radio exclusion zones were already in place in France and would further reduce C-band signal levels by at least 10 times on the runway or during the last mile of final approach and the first mile after takeoff.
The pair appeared to have changed their minds on Monday.
The Epoch Times contacted the two companies.
The FAA said in a statement on Monday that safety is the core of their mission. The FAA thanks AT&T for agreeing to a voluntary delay. We are looking forward to using the additional time and space to reduce flight disruptions.
By Katabella Roberts.
Roberts is a reporter in Turkey. She covers business and news for The Epoch Times.
