United States: Mobile phone carriers agree to delay rolling out some 5G service near airports for another year, FAA says

Mobile phone carriers agree to delay rolling out some 5G service near airports for another year, FAA says
By Gregory Wallace and Brian Fung, CNN, 17 June 2022

(CNN) Mobile phone carriers have agreed to another delay in rolling out some 5G service to prevent interference with airplane technology, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday.

The FAA said the delay, for an additional year, will allow more time for the permanent fix: replacing or filtering the devices that measure an aircraft's distance from the ground, called radar altimeters. The new technology's promises include faster speeds, but aviation officials say the radio waves can be picked up in some cases by the radar altimeter.

The new timeline prompted concerns from major airlines and operators of regional jets, the latter of which would be subject to an even more aggressive end-of-2022 deadline. The Regional Airline Association said the FAA is "pressuring airlines to meet implausible deadlines."

"Airlines are being asked to shoulder the blame for a process that should have been foreseen years ago before telecom expanded into aviation used spectrum," RAA CEO Faye Malarkey Black said. "Our government partners should not deflect shortfalls in interagency coordination onto the airline industry."

Airlines for America, a trade group that represents major airlines, wrote in a letter that "changes affecting avionics performance have always relied upon well-considered industry consensus standards, exhaustive testing and critical FAA certification oversight, often measured in years."

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