AT&T and Verizon finally started rolling out 5G in the US on January 19 after several delays. These were prompted by concerns from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airlines about the risk of 5G interference with critical devices on board aircraft near airports. The two operators agreed on January 18 not to activate the antennas within 3.2 km of the landing strips.
5G, terror of altimeters…
The fears of aviation professionals relate to radio altimeters, used to determine the distance from the ground to the plane. A critical tool for landing phases when visibility is reduced. To operate they use the 4.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz frequency band, very close to that of 5G, between 3.7 GHz and 3.98 GHz, hence the questions about possible interference.
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These doubts and their consequences have for several weeks generated a conflict in the United States between aviation and telecommunications professionals. For the former, the risk of 5G is real, for the latter, including for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), it is minimal.
The FAA published in early January a list of nearly a hundred airports, among the largest in the country, where the risk of interference was considered serious. On January 5, the deployment of 5G was postponed by 15 days, after having already been delayed by a month.
This delay was to allow the agency to identify the altimeters most likely to be subject to interference to narrow the list of airports where 5G was deemed undesirable. There is a wide variety of these devices and testing them one by one is a tedious job.
An airplane like the Boeing 787, cited as an example by the New York Times, is particularly exposed to possible malfunctions of its altimeter. It is the altimeter that automatically manages the reverse thrusters used to slow down an aircraft once it has touched down. Other braking systems exist, but if the reverse thrusters do not activate, the aircraft is unlikely to stop before the end of the runway.
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On January 16, the FAA communicated the approval of two models of altimeters, ” This combination of aircraft and altimeter approval opens runways at no less than 48 of the 88 airports most directly impacted by 5G C-band interference “. These new approvals covered approximately 45% of the US commercial fleet.
Not enough for some airlines. Emirates has announced that its planes will not serve nine US cities. Air India, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have announced that they are suspending Boeing 777 flights on the manufacturer’s advice. They reversed their decisions on January 19, when the FAA approved the 777 reports The Verge. Currently, 62% of the American commercial fleet is able to land in a situation of reduced visibility.
AT&T and Verizon in a rage
A decision facilitated by that of the operators the day before not to activate the 5G antennas near the tracks. Not without a certain evil spirit. AT&T and Verizon are extremely upset about having to postpone the deployment of 5G. The purchase of frequencies had cost them 80 billion dollars in February 2021.
AT&T told The Wired, “ we have voluntarily agreed to temporarily postpone the lighting of a limited number of towers around certain airport runways as we continue to work with the aviation industry and the FAA to provide further information on our deployment 5G because they didn’t use the two years they had to responsibly plan for that rollout “.
Verizon released a statement in a similar vein, accusing the FAA and airlines of being unable ” to solve the problem of 5G around airports even though it has been deployed safely and efficiently in more than forty other countries “.
The danger of 5G for long-known aircraft
In France, however, it was on the basis of an American study, by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics association, that the problem was raised in December 2020. The Directorate General for Civil Aviation told the World than ” protection zones have been set up around seventeen major French airports in order to limit the transmission power of 5G antennas in the immediate vicinity of them “.
In fact, the FAA raised concerns with the Trump administration around the same time. The request to postpone the 5G spectrum auction was approved at the time. Interagency rivalries then led to the situation the United States finds itself in today, reports the New York Times.
Joe Biden personally welcomed the decision made by the operators, “ This agreement will avoid potentially devastating disruptions to passenger transportation, cargo operations and our economic recovery, while allowing over 90% of the relay deployment to occur as planned. “.
Who will pay the bill?
The question of a final settlement of the matter remains unresolved. Updating industry standards will take time, new altimeters are not expected until October. Installing them throughout the US fleet will cost billions of dollars. A bill that no one seems ready to pay.
Negotiations will be conducted between the airlines and the FAA on the one hand and the operators and the FCC on the other. The solution of a buffer zone without or with limited 5G of 3.2 km around the most sensitive tracks could be made permanent.