Key U.S. lawmakers urge AT&T, Verizon to delay some 5G deployments

FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) joins House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and fellow Democrats for a news conference on upcoming infrastructure legislation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. June 30, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the House Transportation Committee and the head of an aviation subcommittee urged AT&T and Verizon Communications to delay some 5G deployments set for Wednesday around key U.S. airport runways.

Representative Peter DeFazio, the committee chair, and Representative Rick Larsen, who chairs an aviation subcommittee, said the Federal Aviation Administration and aviation industry must have "more time to thoroughly assess the risks of deployment in order to avoid potentially disastrous disruptions to our national airspace system."