Thread by @haroldfeld

So I have now read the letter from DOT Sec. Buttigieg (and FAA Admin Dickson) to AT&T & VZ CEOs. It pretty much confirms the resolution I have been predicting is in the works: the FAA will let airlines self-certify that their altimeters won't be impacted.
/1

As the letter explains: "the FAA will safely expedite the approvals of Alternate Means of Compliance (AMOCs) for operators with high-performing radio altimeters to operate at those airports." Let's unpack that sentence.
/2

First, the DoT is now clearly saying that there are altimeters that will not be impacted in any way, shape or form by 5G in C-Band. The DoT calls these "high-performing." Alternatively, we could refer to the impacted altimeters as "crap." /3

Second, the DoT is also saying that there is some scalable process that can ascertain whether airplanes have "high-performance" or "crap" altimeters.
/4

So once again, THIS ISN'T AN FCC ANALYSIS PROBLEM. It is about "high-performance" v. "crap" altimeters. Upgrade the altimeters from "crap" to "high-performance" and the problem disappears.
/5

Now if the FAA and the airline industry had taken that position back in 2019, they could have set aside auction revenue to address the problem. Or the airline industry could have done what auto guys did for 5.9 GHz, get Congress to pay in infrastructure package. /6

But for whatever reason, FAA and airline industry decided to play hardball and claim planes will fall out of sky unless they get what they want. Ajit Pai was absolutely the wrong Chair on whom to pull that crap. /7

Hopefully, other fed agencies will learn a Very Important Lesson that better to work with @FCC and take half loaf than throw weight around. We'll see. /8