As the aviation and wireless industries continue to battle over the deployment of 5G spectrum, one thing is clear: Everybody blames somebody else.
During a House Subcommittee on Aviation hearing on Feb. 3, lawmakers were primarily concerned with the ongoing dispute among the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission and involved wireless companies that have not yet deployed C-band spectrum acquired at FCC auctions in 2021. C-band spectrum, part of the mid-band, is important for 5G networks because of high-band spectrum's limitations and low-band spectrum's crowded bands.
Speaking first, the FAA blamed wireless operators for the ongoing dispute.
Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Stephen Dickson said the wireless industry is not accustomed to the level of precision the FAA requires. In order to minimize aviation system disruptions, the FAA was forced to wait on wireless companies to provide them with more of their internal data on deployment plans, and a lack of early disclosures by AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. prolonged the process.
"We did not have the data that we needed until we were able to work with them directly. ... We didn't have the ability to put specific mitigations in place and tailor them by fleet type and by airport until we had the specific deployment data from the telecommunications companies," Dickson said.
Critics of the FAA's position on C-band, including CTIA President and CEO Meredith Attwell Baker, cite European and Asian countries as examples of where C-band has been deployed without incident, even in airport zones.
"America is playing catch-up, as the U.S. has a limited amount of mid-band spectrum available to power 5G networks," Baker wrote in her testimony. "Across the globe, the C-Band is the mid-band workhorse for 5G. Nearly 40 countries are already using this spectrum with no threat to air safety."
Dickson and Air Line Pilots Association President Joseph DePete said comparing the U.S.'s C-band situation to deployment in other countries is an oversimplification.
"I can tell you that if the FCC had adopted the 5G C-Band rules that are currently used in Japan, for example, we wouldn't even need to be here today," DePete wrote in his testimony. "The maximum power level permitted in Japan is 2% of the maximum power authorized in the FCC Order for the U.S. And even with this significantly lower power, Japan still restricts the siting of 5G transmitters away from aircraft flight paths."
Representatives from the FCC were not present during the hearing.
Former AT&T executive Dennis Roberson said in prepared testimony that airlines could solve any concerns on their own if they were willing to pay enough. Retrofitting and certifying new radar altimeters to meet the standard of modern altimeters is an expensive and time-consuming, yet effective, way of reducing any risk to aviation, he said.
In a 2021 auction, Verizon paid $45.45 billion to win 3,511 licenses of C-band spectrum, while AT&T was the second-biggest spender, paying $23.41 billion for 1,621 licenses. Both operators expected to launch their C-band service in December 2021, but repeatedly had to delay those launches in the face of opposition from the FAA.
While the companies were eventually able to launch C-band service in most of their planned markets on Jan. 19, they have delayed turning on a limited number of towers around a number of U.S. airports.
T-Mobile US Inc.'s deployment of high-speed 5G has been largely unimpacted by these concerns since it relies heavily on 2.5 GHz mid-band spectrum it acquired from Sprint Corp. in 2020. Still, T-Mobile executives voiced their support for their wireless brethren.
"We think that in the final analysis after the work has been done, the studies have been completed, we think the wireless industry, AT&T, Verizon, the FCC positions will be validated," T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on Feb. 2. "And we think they're right."
T-Mobile spent $9.34 billion in the C-band auction for 142 licenses.