Carriers Poised to Launch 5G on C-Band Today, Skipping Some Towers

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief 

UPDATE AT&T and Verizon modified their plans to turn on 5G transmissions using their C-band licenses today. That’s in response to the last-minute plea on Monday from representatives of airlines and cargo shippers asking for a third pause.

The carriers on Tuesday agreed to temporarily defer turning on some wireless towers near key airports to avert a significant disruption to U.S. flights, reported Reuters. Details of the latest agreement were not disclosed, but airlines in recent days had proposed temporarily not deploying just under 10 percent of towers, or about 500, sources told Reuters. Nearly all but a handful of the impacted sites are Verizon towers.

Reuters characterized Verizon's 5G on C-band rollout plan as more aggressive than AT&T's. It’s significantly impacted by the Biden administration request to delay using some towers near airport runways, according to the account.

President Joe Biden hailed the agreement, saying it "will avoid potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations, and our economic recovery, while allowing more than 90 percent of wireless tower deployment to occur as scheduled."

The carriers and the administration have agreed to work together to quickly address the issues and create a process to allow the remaining towers to be deployed. Continue Reading