Singapore's Asia News website reported on Jan. 18 that as AT&T and Verizon Telecom deployed new 5G services, CEOs of major U.S. passenger and cargo airlines warned this week about a "catastrophic" aviation crisis. On the 18th, AT&T and Verizon Telecom agreed to temporarily postpone the opening of some wireless towers near key airports. Here is the background to the dispute:
The U.S. auctioned mid-band 5G bandwidth in the C-band 3.7 GHz to 3.98 GHz band to mobile phone companies in early 2021 for about $80 billion.
Why does this pose a problem?
The FAA has warned that new 5G technology could interfere with instruments such as altimeters, which measure the altitude of an airplane as it flies. The altimeter operates at 4.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz, and there are concerns that the frequency of the 5G bandwidth auction is too close to this frequency.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said last month that FAA directives on 5G would ban the use of radio altimeters at about 40 of america's largest airports.
Multiple U.S. airlines have warned that the instructions could disrupt up to 4 percent of daily flights.
What is the effect of frequency?
The higher the frequency in the spectrum, the faster the service will be. Therefore, in order to make full use of 5G, operators want to use higher frequencies.
What do telecom companies say?
Verizon Telecom and AT&T believe that C-band 5G has been deployed in about 40 other countries without aviation interference.
They agreed to set up buffer zones similar to those in France at about 50 U.S. airports for a period of six months to reduce the risk of disruption.
Why not elsewhere?
In 2019, the European Union set a standard for mid-band 5G frequencies from 3.4 GHz to 3.8 GHz, which is lower than the service to be launched in the United States. This band has been auctioned off in Europe and is being used in many of the 27 member states of the European Union, with no problems to date.
The European Aviation Safety Agency, which regulates 31 countries, said on December 17 last year that the problem was unique to U.S. airspace.
Verizon Telecom said it would not use bands closer to higher bands for a number of years.
In South Korea, where 5G mobile communication frequencies range from 3.42 GHz to 3.7 GHz, there have been no reports of interfering with radio waves in the country since 5G was commercialized in April 2019.
In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission, the Mobile Phone Telecommunications Industry Association said: "Wireless carriers in nearly 40 countries in Europe and Asia are now using the C-band to provide 5G services and have not received any reports of radio altimeters operating in the same 4.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz band designated internationally affected." ”
How do I fix this?
In the short term, AT&T and Verizon Telecom agreed to temporarily postpone the use of some wireless towers near key airports to avoid severe disruption to U.S. flights.
In the long run, the FAA needs to allow the vast majority of U.S. commercial aircraft to make low-visibility landings at many airports where C-band 5G is deployed. This means that the altimeter is approved for use near 5G base stations.
Source: Reference News Network
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