Verizon and AT&T near 5G deployment deadline near airports and planes are not ready, FAA warns
On these newfangled frequencies that Verizon and AT&T bought boatloads of to continue their 5G network expansion, the outdoor antennas at or near airports may interfere with the altimeters used to establish a plane’s position relative to the ground.
“There are no guarantees that all large markets will retain the current (safeguards),” he wrote, advising that the two most vulnerable categories of “less capable aircraft” should quickly install altimeter retrofits that would be able to withstand the C-Band deployment interference.
Needless to say, the airlines balk at spending extra for altimeter retrofits that may become obsolete with continuous network deployments, while Verizon and AT&T are working with the FAA and FCC to adjust their antenna locations, signal strength and direction away from the potential points of interference.
It is a process that is surely to remain controversial as the FAA’s Nolen Nolen advised that “without additional action by the FCC to cap transmissions at currently attainable power levels, the prospect of additional disruption remains and we are not in any position to offer assurances.”
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