In a literal late-night reversal of course on Monday, telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon agreed to postpone the rollout of new 5G wireless service after concerns by airlines that it could interfere with operational systems on planes.
The companies were scheduled to implement the new service on Wednesday, January 5. But in the last week, industry lobby group Airlines for America, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Scott Dickson all made appeals to delay 5G.
Late Monday night, the companies agreed to hold off activation of 5G near airports - including such heavily trafficked airports in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Boston and Seattle - for two weeks until January 19.
"At Secretary Buttigieg's request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services," an AT&T spokesperson said, according to CNN. "We also remain committed to the six-month protection zone mitigations we outlined in our letter. We know aviation safety and 5G can co-exist and we are confident further collaboration and technical assessment will allay any issues."
On Sunday, AT&T and Verizon had issued a joint statement of a different kind - they rejected the overtures from the airlines.
The FAA released a statement that was appreciative of the change of heart.
"Safety is the core of our mission and this guides all of our decisions," the FAA said. "We look forward to using the additional time and space to reduce flight disruptions associated with this 5G deployment."
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