5G Wireless Service and Flight Safety: What’s to Know?

What’s happening in the 5G flight-safety battle?

Telecom companies were to launch a new, faster wireless Internet service in early December. The plan met some hurdles after air safety regulators prepared to introduce disruptive flight restrictions, as they said 5G service could potentially pose a risk to cockpit equipment on aircraft. The telecommunications industry disputes whether the service would pose any threat.

then now what?

Verizon and AT&T are due to begin offering the service on January 19, after two delays.

As such, the Federal Aviation Administration recently issued regulations that prohibit aircraft from landing in certain low visibility conditions at sites where 5G service has been activated. In the meantime, the agency is planning to consider some of the planes safe to make such landings after the test, to help minimize any air-traffic disruptions.

Why is the aviation industry worried about flights?

The issue is whether the new 5G signals affect aircraft equipment that help planes land in tough weather conditions and avoid accidents. Instruments called radars or radio altimeters use radio frequencies to measure the distance between an aircraft and the ground.

Aviation officials worry about cellular frequencies that telecommunications companies plan to activate, which could interfere with altimeters, potentially turning off readings that carry instruments and endangering aircraft. . 5G service will operate in a frequency known as C-band, which is close to the airwaves used by altimeters.

Telecom-industry representatives say that connections on the C-band will not interfere with cockpit equipment, citing analysis by technical experts from the Federal Communications Commission and other regulators around the world.

So will the new 5G service make flights unsafe or not?

The FAA has said it is taking steps to ensure that aircraft do not operate in unsafe conditions due to 5G service. The agency has said that the point of its restrictions on aircraft using certain radar altimeters is to ensure that the equipment does not potentially degrade.

Telecom industry representatives say that signals on the C-band will not cause harmful interference to cockpit equipment. He pointed to the fact that the US has included a buffer band to separate the new 5G signals from those used by radar altimeters.

Does the new 5G service only affect commercial flights?

No, helicopters and private planes also depend on altimeters. Helicopter Association International, a trade group, said some air ambulances and law-enforcement helicopters could be grounded if new 5G services are rolled out next week.

Radar engineers and manufacturers said helicopters typically have more varied flight paths than planes and fly more slowly, putting them at risk of longer bursts of more cell towers and potential interference.

Private aircraft and helicopters also use a much larger number of airports and takeoff and landing sites than commercial aircraft, including 4,000 heliports next to hospitals. Airports Council International – North America, another trade group, has called for delaying the 5G rollout until it is called a sufficient mitigation to keep flight safe.

How big is 5G deal for the telecom industry?

Fifth-generation cellular technology is significantly faster than previous services, making activities such as downloading software and streaming video easier. Such links are already available in parts of the US from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile US Inc. in several spectrum bands. Coverage isn’t uniform, and AT&T and Verizon specifically require more frequencies to protect their networks from overcrowding.

For example, Verizon bid $45.5 billion for its C-band license, and plans to use them to offer more 5G service to mobile customers and to provide home Internet links in some areas where cable broadband Not available or costs too much.

Why did this fight come to the fore now?

The conflict is occurring in large part because federal agencies did not act before to work through their disagreements.

Concerns about possible interference with cockpit equipment were on the FCC’s radar, according to a commission order published in March 2020. In that order, in part, it found that a study did not demonstrate that harmful interventions were likely to occur under appropriate scenarios and suggested that an industry task force continue to analyze the issue.

The FAA brought up its concerns in December of that year in a letter sent shortly before the start of the FCC auction, and called for the sale to be postponed. Trump administration officials did not agree with the FAA’s last-minute concerns and the C-band auction went ahead. But this issue did not go unnoticed by the aviation industry. By last autumn, the two regulators had begun sharing the information both had been seeking for months.

How are other countries handling the issue?

Other countries have allowed telecommunications companies to offer wireless services around the same frequencies, though with some restrictions. For example, France has a limit of 5G operations at about 20 airports where pilots have low visibility during landing, while regulators in other countries have limited power levels for ground stations.

What does all this mean for airline passengers?

Aviation industry and government officials have said the agreement reached by transport authorities and telecom companies in early January this year is expected to avert the most serious flight disruptions.

Under the agreement, the FAA selected 50 airports for the buffer zone where telecommunications companies will be confined for six months, with 5G signals expected to be operational this month. On that list are some of the larger traveler hubs, such as Chicago’s O’Hare International, and facilities that often encounter fog and clouds, such as San Francisco International.

Some busy airports, such as Hartsfield-Jackson and Ronald Reagan Washington National in Atlanta, were not included because they are not in areas where the new 5G service is being deployed first. And at other airports, according to the FAA, the towers are far enough apart to create a natural buffer for 5G connections.

However, aviation industry and government officials have said they expect at least some flights to be canceled, delayed or diverted after Verizon and AT&T activated the new 5G service on January 19. The agency has told the FAA that their altimeters are able to operate reliably and accurately in the new 5G environment.

What about T-Mobile?

AT&T and Verizon paid a premium for early elimination of C-band spectrum. T-Mobile also bid in the same FCC auction, but only went away with the license due in late 2023, so its 5G network isn’t affected by the latest standoff with the FAA. That said, T-Mobile could face the same problems that its rivals could now if the latest security concerns are not addressed over the next two years.