U.S based telecommunications company Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and largest provider of mobile telephone services in U.S AT&T Inc. (T) said they have agreed to adopt new precautionary measures to address increasing air safety concerns for the use of C-Band spectrum for 5G wireless.
The aviation industry together with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have been raising concerns citing a potential interference of sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters caused by deployment of the 5G technology.
Both telecoms announced having committed for a period of six months to take extra steps to minimize energy coming from 5G base stations both nationwide and to an even greater degree around public airports and heliports. In addition, the companies said they would be addressing altimeter concerns soon.
The FAA says it will review the proposal by the both companies terming it an important and encouraging step. FAA made it clear that it believes that aviation and 5G C-band wireless service can safely co-exist.
“These technical mitigations represent one of the most comprehensive efforts in the world to safeguard aviation technologies,” said FAA.
AT&T said that it has agreed to adopt these precautionary measures even despite lacking credible evidence that a legitimate interference problem exists.
“Though there is no credible evidence that a legitimate interference problem exists, we agreed to take these additional steps to alleviate any safety concerns from the FAA,” said AT&T.
