FAA urges airlines to prepare for US C-Band 5G rollout TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. FAA urges airlines to prepare for US C-Band 5G rollout By Steve McCaskill published 16 June 2022 US authorities fear interference from C-Band 5G (Image credit: Shutterstock) Audio player loading… The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has urged major airlines to address potential risks from C-Band 5G services set to launch around some airports next month. Mid-range C-Band spectrum offers a compromise between the range and indoor penetration characteristics of low-range airwaves and the huge capacity offered by high-band frequencies. AT&T and Verizon Wireless won C-Band licenses at an auction last year that raised $80 billion for the American government. 5G aviation threat  However, the FAA is concerned that C-Band 5G could affect sensitive electronics, like altimeters, that rely on frequencies located between 4.2 and 4.4GHz. These fears are disputed by mobile operators, who nonetheless agreed to delay the launch of their respective services near some airports and introduce measures that mitigate any perceived issues, including airport buffer zones.Read more> UK aviation authority says it has no concerns about C-Band 5G (opens in new tab) > FAA reveals exactly what it thinks 5G will do to airplane electronics (opens in new tab) > Verizon and AT&T will delay 5G C-Band rollout, after initially rebuffing the DOT and FAA request (opens in new tab) With operators set to resume deployment from July, the FAA has called on airlines to press ahead with retrofitting radio altimeters, warning that not all airports will continue with the safeguards introduced earlier this year. The FAA added that it was also working with operators to minimise potential disruption, with both Verizon and AT&T planning to complete their rollouts by the end of 2023. Mobile operators and industry bodies say there is no credible evidence of interference, noting that other countries have deployed C-Band 5G with no problems and that there is a sufficient spectrum gap between bandwidth allocated for mobile and for aviation. Others have questioned why the FAA waited so long before expressing is concerns. Via Reuters (opens in new tab) Steve McCaskillSteve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media. See more Mobile phones news Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to theTechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie3Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago4RTX 4090 too expensive? Nvidia resurrects another old favorite5More than one million credit card details leaked online1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip3If this feature succeeds for Modern Warfare 2, Microsoft can't ignore it4Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month5The Rings of Power episode 8 trailer feels like one big Sauron misdirect Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)