1. Home
2. Opinion

5G ROLLOUT INTERFERES AIRLINES' SIGNAL SYSTEM

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 1/21/2022 2:38:12 PM

T K NANDANAN Though 5G rollout is most awaited in many developed countries, its rollout in the US has caused the aviation industry especially the long-haul carrier Emirates as well as Air India some consternation as the C-Band strand of 5G could interfere with radio altimeters.In fact, altimeters measure how high a plane is in the sky, a crucial piece of equipment for flying, particularly at night or in bad weather. So, airlines worldwide rushed on Wednesday to cancel or change flights heading into the United States over the ongoing dispute about the rollout of 5G mobile phone technology near American airports. It may be recalled that Air India announced on Twitter that it would cancel flights to Chicago, New York and San Francisco due to deployment of the 5G communications equipment. It is pertinent to note that based on internal findings from Boeing, it seems that 5G networks can mess around with the flight telemetry of the Boeing 777 aircraft. It is found that this can cripple the aircraft’s sense of height, which is something to remain accurate after it takes off or before landing. So, several airlines across the world including India’s Air India have pulled off the Boeing 777 aircraft from those routes where 5G networks are deployed. While the 5G technology throwing spanner in the works of the airlines service, it can upset the human lives as well. There have been several rumours of 5G being hurtful to living beings. It is believed that 5G networks can cause tissue damage, cancer, and impair cognitive functions in humans. However, truth is that no scientific study has proven any of the risks yet. Moreover, 5G is the much-awaited telecommunication revolution that is believed to usher in more technological era of speed. So, 5G continues to rollout across the world. As far as 5G technology is concerned, higher frequency band is very important in the spectrum. Higher the frequency, faster will be the service of the network. Hence, 5G operators want a higher frequency band so that they can get full value of the service. It is pertinent to note that Europe is also getting ready to embrace 5G rollout in a big way, but they don’t face any issue in contrast to the US, wherein the issue is very specific. In south Korea, 5G mobile communication frequency is 3.42-3.7GHz band and there has been no report of interference with radio wave since commercialization of 5G in April 2019. Besides, wireless carriers in nearly 40 countries throughout Europe and Asia now use the C band for 5G, with no reported effects on radio altimeters that operate in the same internationally designated 4.2-4.4 GHz band. So, air carriers must upgrade the inhouse signal system of the aircraft so as not to interfere the signals of the 5G frequency.