FAA LETTER DETAILS RENEWED CONCERNS OVER 5G SERVICE; AVIATION GROUPS CALL FOR LONG-TERM MITIGATION STRATEGY THROUGH CODIFIED REGULATIONS
December 12, 2022
The FAA recently indicated new concerns regarding the launch of 5G services across the U.S. In a letter dated October 21, the FAA asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) and the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to force certain wireless providers to make more concessions citing aviation safety concerns. Specifically, FAA noted that it obtained data indicating that aviation safety could likely be comprised if the U.S. government does not codify restrictions on operating limits related to 5G C-Band services. Without such restrictions, FAA stated it would have to take “immediate steps” to maintain aviation safety, which could likely result in flight disruptions across the U.S. Senior leaders at FAA and the U.S. Commerce Department’s telecommunications unit met to further discuss FAA’s aviation safety concerns regarding further 5G C-Band deployment in an effort to try to come to a resolution on the issue. While no official concessions or agreements were made, the FAA has apparently suggested that the U.S. government consider temporarily prohibiting the launch of some additional services, and instituting power limits until at least January 2024 to ensure that FAA and air carriers have additional time to ensure that aircraft and onboard instruments are protected and will not face interference from the deployment of additional 5G services.
Following this, on November 15, 2022, a number of airline groups sent a letter to DOT, FAA and the NTIA to request more time to upgrade radar altimeters onboard aircraft since some carriers have indicated that certain aircraft need to have retrofitted altimeters, which will not be done by the end of the year as previously expected. The airlines groups also requested that a long-term mitigation strategy be implemented and codified through regulations to better solve the issues that have been ongoing in regard to the implementation of new 5G services.
FAA and telecom companies AT&T and Verizon came to an agreement earlier this year in which the two companies agreed to certain voluntary concessions and a phased approach to launching 5G service around many low-visibility and high-volume airports in the U.S. to help ensure aviation safety by mitigating the potential risk of 5G signals impacting airplane equipment. The limited deployment of 5G services by the two companies was also intended to allow airlines time to upgrade aircraft to avoid potentially problematic signal interference.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com 202-659-6665).
Share This Post
Authors
