FAA C-Band Probe Could Mean Long Delays: Tower CEO

FAA’s examination of interference risks from C-band deployments could “dramatically slow” 5G buildouts, Alex Gellman, CEO of tower company Vertical Bridge, warned Wednesday. After Verizon and AT&T agreed to put off the start of deployments until January, analysts said last week the risks for the carriers are minimal, if questions are addressed by early 2022 (see 2111040042). Gellman said the agency is now asking a battery of unprecedented questions as it probes potential interference to air safety systems.

The agency is trying to “effectively regulate” C-band deployment “in a way that’s never been done before,” Gellman said during an AGL webinar, sponsored by the National Association of Tower Erectors. “We’re now getting notices from the FAA on any site where our customers are deploying C band” with “a list of detailed questions … around power output, antenna make and model, transmitter make and model, antenna tilt, polarization,” he said: “This should have been addressed, and was addressed, in the beginning when the C band was designated for auction.”

The investigation poses “a far bigger risk for slowing down 5G deployment” than supply chain problems, Gellman said. He blamed the change in administrations. “Somebody at the FAA maybe felt they weren’t heard when the C-band rules were promulgated and the auction occurred,” he said.

The probe is tied to the proliferation of “low-cost” radio altimeters, said Lynn Whitcher, general counsel of MD7, which works with providers on siting. A 30-day pause “is not necessarily an issue,” she said. “It will be an issue if the pause is extended.”

Providers in more than 40 countries operate in the C band, said Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner: “If the situation is so dire, why does the FAA allow American planes to fly to countries where it suspects networks that may crash planes?” he asked: “Why hasn’t the FAA shared their concerns with air safety authorities” worldwide?

Carriers

Wireless Infrastructure Association members report “unnecessary delays” in deployments, said President Jonathan Adelstein. “FAA is not positioned to regulate spectrum where it has no expertise,” he said. “Under federal law, the FCC has the authority to make this determination, not the FAA. The aviation industry raised interference concerns with the FCC and those complaints were heard and addressed with a huge guard band based on science.”

“After 17 years of global study, the U.S. government found that 5G can coexist safely with flights,” emailed CTIA President Meredith Baker: “There is no scientific or engineering basis for further delay, and we cannot afford to fall behind as countries continue to launch and expand 5G operations in the C-band. The wireless industry intends to launch this service in the U.S. next January.”

Tower companies face a “challenging environment,” said Marc Ganzi, CEO of infrastructure company DigitalBridge. Supply chain issues are creating problems, and “it’s the strangest stuff that will hold you up today,” he said: “It won’t be fiber from Corning … it’ll be something as silly as a grounding system” or an air conditioner vent. “It sometimes is the smallest components that are stuck in a shipping container,” he said. “Getting people back to work” post-COVID-19 is a challenge, as is permitting, he said.

“It’s not Nokia, Ericsson that are having problems, it’s all the other parts of the building materials that go into the deployment site,” Gellman said. His company requires staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they have a valid medical or religious excuse.

Permitting has been difficult during the pandemic, Whitcher said. “Governments, especially in smaller areas, really weren’t equipped to handle the shift to online permitting and online approvals,” she said. “Siting continues to be a challenge, even where we have really good regulations.”

Investors

On an investor panel, Alliance Funding Group’s Bill MacNamara said one risk is that companies will apply for the federal broadband funding now becoming available, without having solid business plans. “It’s like anything when the government starts writing checks,” he said. “You have to be careful. You’ve got to do your due diligence.”

“It’s like anything when the government starts writing checks,” MacNamara said. “Do your due diligence.” MacNamara said he has focused on fixed-wireless operators and a lot of them “are now looking at fiber because it’s a longer term investment, they’ve got some support from the government.” The Supply chain is a problem and “will probably be a concern for the next year or so,” he said.

Investors have been interested in infrastructure companies, said Houlihan Lokey’s Jason Hill. Private equity investors like the “long-term contracts, recurring revenue, really solid cash flow … with growth,” he said. There are now questions about growing inflation and the effect on the credit market. “A lot of these business plans are underwritten … by very low cost debt,” he said.

Hill also worries about supply chain and labor issues. “We could do everything right on our end, but if we can’t hire the people, we can’t get the supplies, if interest rates start to go up. … that could impact how attractive the investments could be,” he said.

Wireless ISPs are also seeing supply chain problems, said WISP Association President Claude Aiken. “It’s a lot of little things that add up that make it a lot more difficult to do the work that they are trying to do.” Fiber and fiber-related components are in especially short supply, with lead times of up to two years, he said: That’s “pretty insane, especially when you’re looking to plan for future network builds and even trying to keep up the existing network.”