U.S. Agencies Failed to Head Off 5G Conflict, Former FCC Chief Says

(Bloomberg) -- Regulators failed to avert a conflict over whether 5G service rolled out in January could interfere with aircraft electronics, former U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration “had a couple of years to take action, to do something, and didn't,” Wheeler said on Bloomberg Television's “Balance of Power with David Westin.”

The FCC “forgot to think about” consequences of devoting more airwaves to 5G, said Wheeler.

The FCC in 2020 opened the airwaves in question to 5G uses. As the service was set to commence on so-called C-band frequencies, airlines warned that flights might be canceled because the new signals might interfere with on-board electronics. Mobile providers AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to temporarily lower power.

Lawmakers are to look into the matter at a hearing Thursday. 

In recent weeks the wireless and aviation industries have consulted closely, and the FAA has concluded that with 5G power lowered, about 90% of the U.S. commercial aircraft fleet is at least partially shielded from 5G interference and can operate into most airports.

The FAA could have stepped in to call for new technical standards for the electronics that might be affected by the signals, and the FCC could have helped devise a way to pay for switching to new equipment, Wheeler said.

The FAA wrote to a division of the Commerce Department objecting to 5G in December 2020, but the concerns were never passed on to FCC. Wheeler said the White House, under President Donald Trump at that time, was “AWOL” and failed to coordinate between the agencies.

Wheeler served at the the FCC from 2013 to 2017 and is now a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution policy group in Washington.

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