Verizon plans to turn on about 2,000 5G towers in February -sources

Verizon Communications plans to turn on around 2,000 additional towers in February in the next phase of its C-Band 5G deployment after talks with US regulators, sources said. The new phase comes after the US FAA said Friday it had agreed that Verizon and AT&T could safely turn on more 5G towers in a deployment that has been disrupted by aircraft safety concerns. Verizon turned on about 5,100 towers in January and will be able to turn on about another 2,000 in February, the sources said, adding that the total could rise as aviation buffer zones are refined. Concerns that the new towers could interfere with sensitive airplane electronics delayed the C-Band 5G deployment, initially planned for early December. Verizon agreed in January to not deploy about 500 towers near airports. The company said in January it would initially offer its 5G C-Band service to about 90 million people and promised to expand that to more than 100m by March 31. Verizon said Tuesday it had met the 100m goal as of Feb. 1 and intended "to exceed that goal." It declined to comment on the number of new towers being activated, but said it remains committed to "very productive discussions with the FAA and others".<br/>