5G today is in more places on more U.S. networks than ever before, but what should have been a victory lap for the country’s technological achievements has instead settled into a slow moving disaster.

A lack of leadership and incompetence in multiple government agencies, a morass of bureacracy, and disengenous, unproven claims about air safety almost brought two of the country’s largest industries to a breaking point.

Wireless network operators and aviation authorities routinely trade barbs over spectrum, but this latest snafu takes things to a whole new level. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and Department of Transportation have fantastically failed the people they are charged to serve.

The issue would be laughable if it wasn’t so loaded with life-or-death consequences. Airlines claim U.S. carriers' use of C-band spectrum might interfere with radio altimeters, which measure how close an aircraft is to the ground. There are no reported incidents or independent studies to back up this claim.

AT&T and Verizon, the largest licensees of C-band spectrum for a combined $68.9 billion in early 2021, begrudgingly volunteered to delay the deployment of mid-band 5G service for nearly seven weeks. Nothing changed during these consecutive pauses other than increasingly intense back-and-forth missives that dragged airlines, federal regulators, wireless carriers, and lobbying groups into the mud.

Even more frustrating is the lack of seriousness given to this matter in the years leading up to, throughout, and the year following the FCC’s auction of C-band spectrum. The FAA didn’t even start cataloging and requesting tests of the altimeters used by aircraft around the country until the C-band was supposed to be ready and clear for Verizon and AT&T to activate 5G service.

The spectrum buffer allocated between C-band spectrum and frequencies used by aircraft altimeters is at least 400 megahertz — a tranche larger than the entirety of either band independently.

If air travel safety is paramount and truly at risk due to spectrum interference, the onus was and remains on the FAA and airlines to meet this moment with the responsibility and trust it requires. Unfortunately, the time for doing the right thing has passed.

AT&T and Verizon, understandably frustrated by the standstill and eager to put their massive investments into service, voluntarily agreed to not use C-band spectrum around the nation’s airports. The competing messages — potential catastrophe in the nation’s skies or better 5G — were lopsided from the start and the carriers had no choice but to relent.

Meanwhile, the FAA issued dramatic advisories that plunged the nation’s air traffic into uncertainty, prompting flight cancellations, confusion, and increased bickering between airlines, regulators, and carriers. 

The result, following another last-minute agreement that no one appears to be happy with, is that Verizon and AT&T have 5G service riding on mid-band spectrum as of today. Verizon’s plan to cover 100 million people with mid-band 5G was cut to 90 million people. And AT&T, which always planned to deploy C-band initially at a slower pace, introduced mid-band 5G in “limited parts” of eight metro areas. 

President Joe Biden has largely stayed on the sidelines amid this mess, but again thanked Verizon and AT&T for delaying mid-band 5G deployment around airports. “This agreement will avoid potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations, and our economic recovery, while allowing more than 90% of wireless deployment to occur as scheduled,” he said in a statement. 

Biden also said his administration has been “engaging nonstop with the wireless carriers, airlines, and aviation equipment manufacturers to chart a path forward,” and pledged to “close the remaining gap and reach a permanent, workable solution around these key airports.”

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg today told CNBC he’s hopeful the issue will be resolved soon. “I have assurance from the highest level in the White House this is the main priority for them to sort out,” he said.

I sure hope that’s not the case. We’re still in a devastating pandemic with infection rates surpassing all-time highs in some parts of the country, deaths continuing to climb, and hospitals overflowing with patients desperate to get well and return home to their families.

Air travel and 5G are luxuries that relatively few Americans enjoy and couldn’t care less about today. We need leadership, attention to details that matter, and a sense of urgency that has been woefully missing thus far.

Pandemic fatigue and despair has come for all of us, one way or another. 5G isn’t going to change any of that.

When incompetence festers, the leaders we rely on try to pass the blame to someone else. The chaos surrounding something as seemingly minor as mid-band spectrum appears to be a manifestation of our collective ineptitude. 

The system is failing all of us. Nearly two years into a pandemic, we still can’t get people tested efficiently, public health officials changed guidelines to place greater importance on the economy than our wellbeing, and some schools are putting children at unnecessary and senseless risk.

If we can’t get any of that right, why would we expect anything different for 5G?