Verizon, AT&T agree to two-week delay for 5G network expansion

Verizon and AT&T have agreed, after all, to delay the expansion of 5G mobile services in the C-band spectrum for two weeks, the New York Times reported. US transportation officials earlier asked the companies to delay the launch planned for early January, on concerns the services could threaten aircraft safety. 

The companies already agreed in November to a one-month delay in deploying the new frequencies freed up by satellite operators, until 05 January. Last week Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Steve Dickson, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, asked for another delay. The operators initially responded by saying they would not delay their launches any further, offering instead to limit the power of their signals for six months. 

AT&T said that “at Secretary Buttigieg’s request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services”. Verizon also accepted the delay. AT&T noted it was still committed to the proposal to operate the new 5G services at lower power, along with other measures, to mitigate the concerns of aviation regulators.

The FAA thanked the companies for their voluntary delay and for their proposed mitigations, and said it would use the additional time and space to reduce flight disruptions associated with the deployment of 5G.