> It seems to me then the owners of the offending equipment are responsible for the bill. I don't see how you can come to any other logical conclusion.

Because at the time the equipment was bought, it met every applicable federal standard. This would be unfair to the owners who had no way of knowing about the issue.

Also, in nearly every other case I can think of when spectrum changes, the FCC grandfathers in owners of legacy equipment.

> At least I know why cell service at the airport is awful.

I don't think that's at all related, given that we just started rolling out 5G. Plus the bands in question don't travel through walls very well. :/

> Because at the time the equipment was bought, it met every applicable federal standard. This would be unfair to the owners who had no way of knowing about the issue.

At least in Europe, there is precedent that modern use of frequency assignments make older equipment illegal to operate. 4G and 5G have heavily eaten into the frequencies used on stage for event equipment - microphones, IEM, that sort of thing. Many, many pieces can‘t be legally operated anymore, and it‘ll probably be the same in a few years time with the current-gen devices (although I hope I can swap crystals if needed and keep using my stuff).

Radio bandwidth is a scarce resource. If the radio altimeter is transmitting well outside of its boundaries and it creates problems (for any of the parties requirements), it’s the radio altimeters that need fixing. Even if it is expensive to do so.

At the time many buildings were sold, asbestos insulation met every applicable federal standard. The owners are still responsible for mitigating it.

No it did not meet every applicable law because it is using part of the spectrum it’s not supposed to be using. The only reason wireless communication in general isn’t pure jamming hell is because we abide by these simple rules.

Nah, it's like healthy Western US forests need regular fires, but people moved into the woods, built flammable homes, and demanded all fires be stopped. Now we want to restart taking care of forests but they whine their house will burn. If avionics don't stick to their band, they are at fault.

I live 6 miles from an airport. I get less than 100kbps from Verizon on my iPhone 12. Thanks Boeing.