AT&T, Verizon delay rollout of 5G near airports as airlines warn of 'incalculable' damage to economy

AT&T and Verizon will hold off on rolling out 5G within 2 miles of airports when the rest of their 5G networks go live Wednesday – a move lauded by the White House.

"As the nation’s leading wireless provider, we have voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports," Verizon said Tuesday. "The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and our nation’s airlines have not been able to fully resolve navigating 5G around airports, despite it being safe and fully operational in more than 40 other countries."

​AT&T expressed similar frustration.
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"At our sole discretion, we have voluntarily agreed to temporarily defer turning on a limited number of towers around certain airport runways as we continue to work with the aviation industry and the FAA to provide further information about our 5G deployment, since they have not utilized the two years they’ve had to responsibly plan for this deployment," an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "We are launching our advanced 5G services everywhere else as planned with the temporary exception of this limited number of towers.”

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