New Delay of 5G Rollout

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. said they agreed to delay their rollout of a new 5G service for two weeks, reversing course after previously declining a request by U.S. transportation officials, reports The Wall Street Journal.

AT&T said late Monday that the company had voluntarily agreed to an additional two-week delay, at the request of the U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Verizon also said it had agreed to a two-week delay that would ensure the new service would go live in January.

The two companies on Sunday had rebuffed a Dec. 31 request by Mr. Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to delay their rollout of a new 5G signal for up to two weeks to allow aviation regulators to address safety concerns at airports on a rolling basis. The companies said they had already agreed to delay the rollout by a month to Jan. 5.

The sudden turn of events on Monday came as the Federal Aviation Administration was preparing to soon issue flight restrictions that U.S. airlines worried would significantly disrupt air-travel and cargo shipments around the country, people familiar with the matter said.