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An American Airlines plane landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California passes over a cell phone tower disguised as a palm tree in January 2022.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that mobile carriers AT&T and Verizon have reached agreements with airlines to phase in additional 5G antennas around U.S. airports.
“We believe we have identified a pathway for aviation and 5G C-band radio to continue to coexist safely,” Billy Nolen, acting FAA administrator, said in a statement.
In late 2021, the FAA said it could interfere with some planes’ altimeters (a critical instrument for landing in certain weather conditions) and the deployment of 5G frequencies, which AT&T and Verizon paid for dozens of times. Tensions between the two departments escalated further when concerns were expressed about gender. Billions of dollars.
AT&T and Verizon finalized a deal in January to delay the activation of cell phone antennas near certain airport runways by six months.
As the end of the voluntary moratorium approaches, companies are agreeing to a “phased” approach.
Local companies with the highest potential for interference have agreed to change their radio altimeters by the end of the year.
At the same time, telcos agreed to delay the activation of 5G antennas installed around airports, which are most likely to be affected, for a further 12 months and gradually lift restrictions.
“Through our close collaboration with the FAA over the past several months, we have developed a more customized approach to controlling signal strength around our runways,” an AT&T spokesperson said. “This allows us to activate more towers and increase signal strength. It can increase the strength.”
The airline chose to act in “good faith” by agreeing not to deploy all antennas immediately “to allow airlines additional time to refurbish their equipment,” he said. added.
