AT&T and Verizon Now Rolling Out C-Band 5G Spectrum

After weeks of delays due to concerns from the aviation industry, AT&T and Verizon were able to begin deployment of C-Band 5G spectrum to improve the availability of 5G in the United States.

In limited parts of eight metro areas, AT&T's C-Band spectrum is live. Worth, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, and South Florida. AT&T is taking a careful approach to the roll out, but the carrier says that C-Band spectrum will "expand rapidly" as part of a ramp up in its "thoughtful and efficient deployment."

The expansion of the 5G Ultra Wideband service to 1,700 cities was announced by the company earlier this month, and that expansion started today with the launch of the C-band spectrum. The locations where C-Band is live are being shared by users on the internet. The "5G UW" indicator will be displayed by users of the company.

Los Angeles, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Rochester, and many other smaller cities have reports. The C-Band roll out is expected to bring faster 5G speeds to more than 100 million people, but has not yet been shared with the public.

AT&T's 5G+ and Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband can hit speeds of up to a gigabit per second.

The FAA and airlines want more time to figure out if there are issues with airplane altimeters, and that's why the FAA and AT&T are limiting their C-Band deployment in areas near airport runways.

Major U.S. airlines wrote an urgent letter this week warning that the 5G roll out could cause a "catastrophic" crisis.

The FAA has implemented buffer zones around 50 major airports with wireless transmitters close to runways, but for the time being, AT&T and Verizon will block off a two mile zone around affected airports to address concerns.

The FAA has had years to prepare, and airlines and the two carriers are frustrated with the lack of action. AT&T paid $23 billion for access in the C-band spectrum that went up for auction in 2020.

AT&T said it was frustrated by the FAA's inability to deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services, and urged it to do so in a timely manner.