Biden Defends Handling of C-Band Spat Amid GOP Criticism
President Joe Biden defended Wednesday his administration’s role in addressing claimed aviation safety implications of commercial wireless operations on the C band amid pushback from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and top Republicans on the House Commerce and Transportation committees. AT&T and Verizon launched C-band operations Wednesday but are deferring around some airports amid frustration with FAA (see 2201180065). AT&T started to turn on its C-band spectrum in these areas Wednesday, a spokesperson emailed: Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Jacksonville and Orlando. AT&T expects to reach 200 million people this year, the spokesperson said.
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"We don't deal with 5G," Biden said during a news conference. The wireless carriers and airlines are "private enterprises" but "have government" regulation. "What I’ve done is pushed as hard as I can to have 5G folks hold up and abide by what is being requested by the airlines until they could more modernize over the years so that 5G would not interfere with” aviation safety, he said. “Any 5G tower within [a] certain number of miles from an airport should not be operative” for now.
Carr called the administration's process "chaotic and haphazard" and faulted officials for now "walking away" from the deal reached earlier this month to delay the start of C-band operations to Wednesday (see 2201040070). "At any point in time, the White House could have stood up and sided with the science," Carr said. "They didn't. And the silence by so many in leadership only paved the way for a misinformation campaign timed to maximize the chances that Administration officials would cave once again. And they did."
The Biden administration "failed to provide any leadership to find a solution to this spectrum issue," said House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta of Ohio, Transportation Committee ranking member Sam Graves of Missouri and Aviation Subcommittee ranking member Garret Graves of Louisiana. "The U.S. government has hardworking experts who can address any outstanding technical issues, but instead of leading, the White House has sleepwalked through this botched process. By lurching from one arbitrary deadline to the next with no clear plan or strategy for resolution, this Administration’s negligence continues to delay finding a lasting solution that improves our everyday wireless communication while protecting aviation safety.”
Airlines for America President Nicholas Calio deemed the latest agreements "an important step toward achieving a permanent solution," saying there's "work to be done by all stakeholders." Thousands "of flights are taking off and landing safety at" U.S. airports because of those agreements, he said.