U.S. telecom companies postpone airport 5G service

Source: Economic Reference Newspaper

The two major mobile communication operators in the United States, AT&T and Verizon Wireless Communications Company, announced on the 18th that they would suspend 5G services at US airports. At the same time, a number of airlines temporarily adjusted or cancelled flights to the United States due to safety considerations on the same day.

The cause of the incident began when the CEOs of 10 large passenger and cargo aviation companies in the United States "jointly wrote a letter" to the White House on the 17th, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. Concerned about the signals causing disruption to U.S. flights, the airlines asked for a delay in deploying airport high-speed 5G services and asked officials to "take all necessary action to avoid deploying 5G networks at base stations too close to the airport runway until the U.S. Aviation Administration (FAA) confirms that it will not cause catastrophic interference." The letter was addressed to several government officials, including Transport Secretary Buttigieg and FAA Commissioner Dixon. According to these airlines, if the major hub airports in the United States cannot rule out the potential "risk of 5G signal interference", it is estimated that more than 1,100 flights and 100,000 passengers will be affected every day.

AT&T and Verizon subsequently issued separate statements announcing a "voluntary" postponement of airport high-speed 5G services. AT&T and Verizon have agreed to limit base station signals in buffer zones near some of the largest U.S. airports. The two carriers also postponed the launch of 5G services to January 19.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration then said the two telecom operators' decisions "will avoid potentially disruptive disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations and economic recovery, while also allowing more than 90 percent of wireless network base stations to be deployed on schedule." He promised that the government would actively coordinate to reach a permanent solution.

Aviation safety departments say C-band signals could disrupt the plane's radar altimeters, causing inaccurate measurements and transmissions from these devices.

Airlines say the Boeing 777 was one of the first aircraft to be affected. Emirates, Dubai's Dubai-based carrier of the world's largest Boeing 777 aircraft, said it would suspend flights to nine destinations in the United States starting Jan. 19, the planned deployment date for 5G wireless services. Japan's two major airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, also said they would cut Boeing 777 flights. Korean Air said it has discontinued the 777 and 747-8 aircraft on six U.S. passenger and cargo flights, and expects to replace the models used on six other flights on the 19th.

Meanwhile, the FAA is making fine-tuned adjustments to its flight restrictions to protect flights from new wireless signals. The FAA has said that of the 88 airports most directly affected by 5G interference, 48 have already allowed 45 percent of U.S. commercial aircraft to land in low-visibility conditions, and said more approvals could be made in the coming days.

The analysis of the Associated Press and Reuters both quoted international aviation industry sources as pointing out that airports in dozens of countries in Europe and Asia have widely opened C-band 5G network services and have not found safety problems, and the US aviation industry is so entangled because the technical standards set by the United States are "different". Radio altimeters operate in the 4.2 to 4.4 gigahertz (GHz) band, while the C-band 5G resources auctioned off by the U.S. government are in the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz band, which are closer.