After voicing a lot of concerns regarding the C-band rollout, the FAA has finally come to a reasonable agreement with AT&T and Verizon regarding this.
Thereby, the telecom operators will now be let to set up their 5G towers in the areas of airports, but not close that they interfere with the aircraft safety mechanisms. This agreement is the result of good collaboration and communication from telecom companies, says FAA.
5G around Airports in the US
The Federal Aviation Administration, along with a dozen aircraft services have long been pushing the setup of 5G towers around airport areas, due to unwanted interception of communications with critical aircraft mechanisms. Yet, companies like AT&T and Verizon have pushed their need, putting several obligations for an agreement.
One among them includes setting up a buffer zone of two miles around the airport area so that 5G signals from the towers don’t interfere with the critical aircraft safety mechanisms. But, this didn’t satisfy the aviation industry, as they continued to voice concerns on the same cause.
As telecoms expressed disgust even after receiving approvals from safety authorities, the FAA has finally agreed to let them proceed with caution. On Friday, the FAA announced reaching an agreement with AT&T and Verizon for rolling out their C-band spectrum around airports.
This comes after strong communication and collaboration from the telecom companies, says FAA. They (telecom companies) have shared more precise data regarding the location of wireless transmitters setting up and in-depth knowledge on how the 5G signals can interact with sensitive aircraft components.
This gave confidence to FAA, which ultimately agreed to their plans. FAA said this data is used to “determine that it is possible to safely and more precisely map the size and shape of the areas around airports where 5G signals are mitigated, shrinking the areas where wireless operators are deferring their antenna activations.”
