US telecom companies agree to delay 5G deployment

Recently, the U.S. aviation and telecommunications departments have been arguing over the deployment of 5G networks.

According to foreign media reports, on Monday, AT&T and Verizon Communications said they agreed to postpone the 5G network, a request they had rejected on Sunday.

Airlines have called U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a bid to delay the deployment of the service because they are concerned that telecom companies' use of C-band spectrum for 5G networks will affect aircraft flight safety.

Airlines said that because C-band 5G signals may interfere with aircraft cockpit safety systems and automation systems, making it impossible to confirm the aircraft's altitude and atmospheric pressure, this will force a large number of flights to face the risk of delays, diversions or cancellations.

To this end, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Steve Dickson made a request to the two companies on December 31, hoping to postpone the use of the C band on January 5, and the postponement will not exceed two weeks.

However, on Sunday, the CEOs of Verizon and AT&T called U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson respectively, saying that the use of the C-band would not affect aviation safety and rejected the suggestion to delay the deployment of the service by two weeks.

But what’s interesting is that on Monday night, telecom companies AT&T and Verizon suddenly overturned their previous decisions at the same time, saying that at the request of U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, they would voluntarily postpone the use of the C-band for another two weeks.