The FAA that cried wolf on 5G
Good morning! This Wednesday, AT&T and Verizon will pause their 5G rollout and a bunch more companies will likely go fully remote in 2022. My name is Hirsh Chitkara, and I was not invited to Jeff Bezos' New Year's disco party. Instead, I frantically searched for Frank Sinatra's “Auld Lang Syne” on Spotify, which apparently doesn't exist.
Failure to launch (5G)
In a deal President Biden called “a significant step in the right direction,” AT&T and Verizon agreed this week to further delay the deployment of 5G C-band spectrum following requests from the Federal Aviation Administration. The wireless carriers only agreed to a two-week delay, however, which could still allow them to expand their 5G services before the end of January as planned.
This wasn’t the first time the carriers were asked to delay. AT&T and Verizon originally intended to use their C-band spectrum as early as Dec. 5, 2021. They agreed to a 30-day delay in November due to FAA concerns about C-band deployments potentially interfering with high-performing radio altimeters used to safely land aircraft in hazardous conditions.
- Last Friday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson asked the wireless carriers for yet another extension.
- Their proposal would delay full C-band deployment until the end of March at the latest, “barring unforeseen technical challenges or new safety concerns.”
In a response letter to the FAA and Buttigieg, the wireless carrier CEOs insisted that the C-band deployments wouldn’t interfere with airplane equipment, citing a Federal Communications Commission review process that wrapped up in 2020.
- They also agreed to further limit the range of spectrum they use until July 5. France has adopted this more generous spectrum buffer, and the letter points out that U.S. airlines already fly there on a regular basis.
So why the reversal? AT&T and Verizon likely agreed to the two-week extension because they understood the federal government could step in and block the rollout anyway.
- Still, it’s a painful concession for the wireless carriers. Verizon and AT&T spent a record-breaking $45.5 billion and $23.4 billion, respectively, to buy licensing rights to C-band spectrum.
- That’s because the C-band sits in the sweet spot for 5G and has a longer range than the ultra-fast mmWave spectrum that’s still largely confined to cities and sporting venues. C-band is also significantly faster than the low-band spectrum, which sometimes isn’t even all that much faster than existing 4G LTE.
But this might not be the end of these “voluntary” negotiations. And things could spill over into the courts if the FAA has to issue yet another delay request.
- The FAA now has two weeks to complete safety checks that, only five days ago, it said could take until the end of March 2022 to complete.
- The wireless carriers tried to draw a line in the sand by denying the second delay request, but the FAA thinks it has enough leverage to take all the time it needs. A third delay request isn’t unthinkable.
Another delay request would also heighten the spectacle of incompetence as two essential government agencies contradict one another with billions of dollars at stake.
- The FCC initially sold C-band spectrum under the assumption that airplane equipment interference was a non-issue. The FAA and U.S. airlines evidently weren’t on the same page as the FCC.
Zooming out, this tells business leaders that government agencies aren’t always trustworthy business partners. After all, Verizon and AT&T spent billions to buy an asset from one agency, only to be told by another that they can’t use it as promised. These are the kinds of mishaps well-run governments avoid. Then again, if the 5G signal presents as great a safety risk as the FAA seems to believe, it’s at least good to see the agency prioritize public safety over corporate profits.
— Hirsh Chitkara (email | twitter)
A version of this story first appeared on Protocol.com. Read it here.
A MESSAGE FROM TRELLO

Michael Pryor, co-founder of Trello (now a part of Atlassian), explains what he's learned along the way and his advice for other companies that are looking to build a truly collaborative culture that keeps employees feeling connected — from wherever they choose to work.
People are talking
Apple’s market cap will only keep growing, said investment officer Patrick Armstrong:
- “[Apple’s share price will] grow faster than the economy.”
OpenSea just became a $13.3 billion company, and CEO Devin Finzer said it's just getting started:
- "If you thought 2021 was the 'year of the NFT', 2022 is going to blow your mind."
Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol thinks new tech can make working at restaurants a lot easier:
- “Our team members are cutting everything by hand. Is there equipment that could help them?”
Making moves
Google's top execs are getting big raises. After guiding Alphabet to a huge year, Ruth Porat, Kent Walker, Prabhakar Raghavan and Phillipp Schindler all got raises — from $650,000 a year to $1 million — and millions in stock grants.
Sanjay Bhargava is no longer the head of Starlink India. The Indian government had recently told the SpaceX division to stop taking orders for its devices, but Bhargava said he left for “personal reasons.”
Some Google Fiber workers are unionizing. They're actually employed by BDS Connected Solutions, an Alphabet contractor, but are seeking to join the Alphabet Workers Union.
Tom Wolfe is Viant’s new SVP of Business Development. Wolfe has worked in leadership roles at various companies including Comcast and Roku.
Popcorn Time shut down. It was a hugely popular app for watching pirated movies and shows.
Microsoft and Qualcomm are working on a chip together. The two are creating an AR Snapdragon chip for AR glasses that will be part of the Microsoft ecosystem.
In other news
The FCC’s own data is hurting broadband access. Some areas have a hard time getting internet access, but based on broadband maps, no one would ever know there was a problem.
Facebook was flooded with election misinformation before the Capitol riot, according to a report by The Washington Post. Between Election Day and Jan. 6, the platform filled with hundreds of thousands of posts bashing the validity of the election.
Election-related misinformation was prevalent on podcasts too, according to research from the Brookings Institution. About half of episodes on some of the most popular political podcasts included falsehoods between the election and Jan. 6 riot.
Sony is getting in the electric car game. The company said a couple of years ago it didn't plan to make its own cars, but showed off a couple of prototypes at CES and now appears to plan to put Sony vehicles on the road.
Startup leaders want to get better at sharing their feelings. They’re joining T-groups that are like group therapy for CEOs, where they learn how to show empathy and discover new words to describe their emotions.
Remote work is here to stay. More than a quarter of high-paying positions will be fully remote by the end of the year, according to a new report.
Netflix told recruiters not to talk about Dave Chappelle, The Verge reported. The company apparently sent a memo to recruiters with tips on how to avoid conversations about Chappelle’s special and the employees who left as a result.
Programmatic ads are giving podcasters problems, sources told The Verge. Ads are popping up in podcasts that they shouldn’t be in, even when podcasters specifically block particular brands. Advertising networks are losing trust as a result.
The word with Wordle
Some corners of the internet are confusing, and others are downright sketchy. But on Wordle, everyone is there for pure, innocent fun.
It’s a simple word game that exploded over the past few weeks, even though the software engineer who designed it had only intended for his partner to play. Wordle doesn’t want you to become addicted, and it doesn’t want your money. That’s why everyone loves it — and wants more games like it.
A MESSAGE FROM TRELLO

Michael Pryor, co-founder of Trello (now a part of Atlassian), explains what he's learned along the way and his advice for other companies that are looking to build a truly collaborative culture that keeps employees feeling connected — from wherever they choose to work.
Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to sourcecode@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.
Recent Issues
The best of Protocol
December 02, 2022
The confessions of SBF
December 01, 2022
Elon Musk vs. the App Store
November 30, 2022
Here comes the crypto contagion
November 29, 2022
Your holiday book list
November 28, 2022
A tale of two FTXs
November 23, 2022
See more
To give you the best possible experience, this site uses cookies. If you continue browsing. you accept our use of cookies. You can review our privacy policy to find out more about the cookies we use.