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Kolkata: The government has dismissed concerns around the upcoming launch of 5G mobile broadband services<\/a> and such airwaves potentially hindering airline operations<\/a> by impacting aircraft altimeters and auto-pilot systems.
“The frequency band identified for 5G technology<\/a> is 3300-3670 Mhz, among others, which is sufficiently spaced out from the frequency band 4200-4400 Mhz, used for radio altimeters in aircraft, and is very unlikely to cause any interference,” Devusinh Chauhan, minister of state for communications, told Lok Sabha Wednesday.
The minister added that no study had been undertaken by the government in this regard as “the frequency bands opened in the country for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), including 5G<\/a> technology, are as per the techno-regulatory conditions specified by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP)-2018”.
Chauhan was responding to queries in Parliament on whether the government is aware of a recent report of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that 5G technology could interfere with instruments that facilitate the flying of airplanes.
“The question of conducting a study does not arise as the frequency band opened for IMT, including 5G, in India has enough guard band to ensure there is no aeronautical interference,” Chauhan said in reply to a query in Lok Sabha.
Back in January, the US Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) had warned that 5G signals in the C-spectrum band—band range from 3.3-4.2 Ghz—could interfere with aircraft altimeter systems that typically operate in the nearby 4.2-4.4 Ghz range.
A section of the local aviation industry, including the Federation of Indian Pilots, too had voiced concerns over 5G mobile signals possibly impacting the operation of aircraft altimeters—crucial for landing in low-visibility conditions—and making air travel unsafe.
The Indian telecom industry, though, has downplayed such worries around 5G signals interfering with airline operations and hindering passenger safety.
India plans to auction 5G spectrum around May-June in the run-up to the much awaited roll out of 5G services later this year. C-band spectrum in the 3.3-3.67 Ghz range will be put up for sale in the upcoming 5G airwaves<\/a> sale.
A senior telco executive pointed out that C-band spectrum has already been deployed for 5G services in key markets such as the EU, the UK, Japan, South Korea, China and Australia without a hitch to air travel. They also pointed out that C-band airwaves had also been safely deployed in local airport radar operations—at power levels far higher than those of 5G base stations—without hindering aircraft operations.
The CTIA, a trade association representing the US wireless communications industry, in a recent note had also asserted that existing real-world deployments and careful study by industry and regulators across the globe verify that 5G operations in the C-band won’t cause any harmful interference to aviation equipment operating above 4200 Mhz.