US media: The United States 5G on the road to "force the stop" of multinational flights to the United States

According to the CNN website reported on January 18, a number of international airlines said that they would cancel flights to the United States from Wednesday due to uncertainty about whether there was interference between the new 5G mobile phone service in the United States and important aircraft technology.

Emirates, Air India, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines all used the issue as a reason to announce cuts to flights to the United States.

The FAA has been concerned that 5G cellular antennas near some airports could interfere with some aircraft equipment readings designed to indicate how far the plane is from the ground. These systems, known as "radar altimeters," are used throughout the flight and are critical equipment.

The FAA issued an urgent order last December prohibiting pilots from using such potentially jammed equipment around airports with low visibility that may require radar altimeters. The new rules may cause flights to be unable to fly to certain airports in some cases.

AT&T, which owns CNN's parent company, and Verizon Telecom both announced Tuesday that they would delay activating 5G services at base stations around certain airports.

Megan Ctrell, a spokeswoman for AT&T, said: "We are disappointed that the FAA has not been able to do what nearly 40 countries have already done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services." ”

According to the Voice of America radio website reported on January 19, the main US telecommunications company Verizon Telecom and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company agreed to postpone the deployment of their new 5G mobile services around key airports on the 18th. Previously, some airline executives argued that the technology posed a security threat to airlines.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that the administration's agreement with the two telecommunications companies would "avoid disruptions with great potential for disruption to passenger travel, freight operations and our economic recovery," while allowing the two companies to deploy more than 90 percent of their wireless communication towers as planned on the 19th.

Airlines say new technologies will interfere with safe flights, while mobile operators claim airlines have long been aware of the problem but have failed to upgrade in-flight equipment to prevent flight problems.

The radio bands used by the new high-speed 5G mobile service are close to those used by aircraft altimeters.

AT&T and Verizon Telecom argue that their equipment does not interfere with aircraft electronics and that many other countries are using the technology safely.

Airline executives argue that if 5G technology is used, "multiple modern security systems on board will be seen as unstable." Aircraft manufacturers have informed us that large fleets of aircraft currently in operation may require indefinite grounding."

Source: Reference News Network