Will 5G network spectrum pose a threat to Aviation Services around the world? Major concerns come to light and flights get cancelled. 5G band spectrum likely to interfere with radar aviation! Where does India stand on this?

Just as Telecom Operators AT&T and Verizon have started C- band 5G services in the US, concerns have arisen regarding the safety of the air-borne flights and the environmental ecosystem. Many flights including Air India scheduled to the US, have been cancelled even though they were pre-scheduled to take off.

The uncertainty which led to this conclusion mainly surfaces from the fact that sensitive equipment in the aeroplane such as altimeter, aircraft communication networks and so on, may malfunction when the 5G network spectrum interferes with their operations. Altimeters operate in a bandwidth of 4.2-4.4 GHz which comes within the 5G C-band band range -3.7 to 4.2 GHz.

Experts in the field say that severe complications are likely to arise, especially when the aeroplane begins to descend. Some of the major issues that can occur are: –

• Deployment Issues Of Thrust Reversers
• Interruption In Radio Altimeter Data
• Auto Throttle System
• Configuration Warning

Exclusively on the Indian Scenario

Currently, the speculations mention that India is quite safe considering this dilemma. For a flight to be safe whilst being air-borne, there needs to be a gap between the band spectrum maintained for flight services and 5G functioning.

In India, it is calculated that 5G services will be utilizing the 3300 MHz – 3670 MHz band spectrum. The good news is that within the country, the radar aviation uses a spectrum at 4.2 GHz – 4.4 GHz.

“In India, the government is not considering frequencies above 3.7 GHz for public 5G services at present, the frequency band in question in the USA where this potential interference has been observed,” President of ITU-APT foundation, India, Bharat Bhatia said.

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has stated that there is a spectrum gap of around 500 MHz which creates and maintains a safe zone. Hence there is no visible threat to the proper functioning of altimeters in flights flying within the Indian aviation limits.

“In India, there is no risk from 5G services to aircraft and we are fully safeguarded as we are only allocating 3300-3670 MHz, which is more than 500 MHz below the altimeter spectrum. Thus the C band frequencies that are being auctioned for 5G in India are completely safe and there is no risk to the Civil Aviation Radar altimeters,” Bhatia said in a statement.

Let’s hope here further updates by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Telecom Regulatory Authority regarding the outcomes of the 5G spectrum network.