AT&T and Verizon refuse to delay 5G service for the US.






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US telephone operators Verizon Y AT&T They rejected this Sunday (02.01.2021) a request from the authorities to further postpone the entry into service of their new 5G frequency bands, due to concerns in the airline industry.

The start date of the 5G service, initially scheduled for December 5, had already been postponed for the first time to January 5. But the Secretary of Transportation of the United States, Pete Buttigieg, and the head of the aviation regulator, Steve Dickson, asked the two operators a new suspension, for a maximum of two weeks.

AT&T Y Verizon they refused to respond favorably to this request. “Accepting his proposal would be … an unprecedented and unjustified circumvention of due process,” lamented John Stankey, CEO of AT&T, and Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, in a letter.

They believe that it would also be “an irresponsible abdication of the operational control required to deploy communications networks … so essential to the economic vitality, public safety and national interests of our country.”

In addition, both denounced the “inaction” of the aeronautical sector to study the impact of 5G on their devices, which has given rise to these last minute requests, when they were awarded frequency bands 3,7-3 in February, 8 GHz, following a tender of tens of billions of dollars.

However, both CEOs pledged to continue their cooperation with the Secretary of Transportation “and all stakeholders, (…) as long as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation industry commit to do the same. same”.

Aircraft manufacturers Airbus Y American Boeing recently expressed “concern” regarding possible 5G interference with aircraft radio altimeters. Given this, the two operators argued that “currently, American planes enter and leave France every day with thousands of American passengers and with the full approval of the FAA.”

However, the French Civil Aviation Authority recommended, last February, turning off 5G mobile devices on board, due to the risk of “signal interference” that might cause errors “particularly critical during the instrument landing phases.” Also, it had imposed a power limit on 5G antennas located near certain airports.

ama (afp, reuters, bloomberg, politico)

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