- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to meet with telecom and airline industry officials to discuss a campaign to modify and eventually replace some airplane radio altimeters that could face interference from C-Band 5G wireless service, Reuters reported.
- The altimeters provide data on a plane's height above the ground and are critical for bad-weather landings. Still, airline fears about wireless interference from a planned 5G rollout caused issues at certain US airports earlier this year.
- According to a previously unreported letter from the FAA's senior aviation safety officer Chris Rocheleau, reviewed by Reuters, the FAA intends to use the meeting to establish "an achievable timeframe to retrofit/replace radar altimeters in the US fleet." It also asked that aviation representatives "to offer options and commit to actions necessary to meet these objectives."
- AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) voluntarily agreed in January to delay through July 5 switching on some wireless towers and depowering others near airports, averting what airlines had warned would cause a potentially "catastrophic" aviation safety crisis.
- The planned three-and-a-half-hour roundtable meeting will also include a discussion on prioritizing retrofits with antenna filters, which mitigate potential interference from 5G.
- Price Action: T shares are trading higher by 0.31% at $19.39 and VZ higher by 0.17% at $47.25 during the premarket session on Wednesday.
