High Speed Connectivity and Environmental Safety
On January 19th, major telecom companies in the USA, such as AT&T and Verizon Communications, Inc activated a new 5G-C service. The 5th Generation wireless service is faster and more powerful than the 4G network. The 5G deployment caused concern among aviation circles and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued warnings to Airline companies about some safety concerns. That caused some International commercial airline flight cancellations to some US markets. Emirates, Air India, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, and British Airways made changes to their flight schedule to the US. They were worried that the 5G radio waves called ‘C-band spectrum’ will interfere with aircraft instruments, such as the altimeter. Radio altimeters provide information about an aircraft’s height above the ground. Radio altimeters share data with other safety equipment on the plane, navigation instruments, terrain awareness, collision-avoidance systems, etc. Interference of 5G signals with aircraft instruments can affect plane landings in bad weather and during low visibility. Helicopters and private planes were also affected.
There are about 45000 commercial aircraft that are operating in the USA every single day. And their safety is a major concern for the authorities and passengers. FAA started to evaluate altimeters of different aircraft and by the 20th of this month cleared about 78% of the U.S. commercial fleet to perform low-visibility landings at airports where wireless companies launched 5G C-band. So far, Boeing 717, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787, MD-10/-11; all Airbus A300, A310, A319, A320, A330, A340, A350, A380 models; and some Embraer 170 and 190 regional jets were allowed to operate. Telecom companies on their part agreed to pause deploying services near certain airports and to keep larger buffer zones.
5G is in use in more than 40 countries around the world without any significant impact on aircraft operations. EU countries, China, and Australia are using 5G services for some time without incidents. Radio waves from military radar systems are much more powerful and are widely used for decades. But FAA says the 5G signal frequencies used by foreign countries are less powerful than that of the US levels. And their antennas are facing the ground to reduce potential interferences. Also, they have a larger protective barrier. In EU countries,5G signals have a bigger gap in radiofrequency with aviation equipment so chances of interference are minimum.
Due to their high-frequency characteristics, the 5G network coverage area is small. Erecting huge communication towers is not necessary but antennas must be installed closer to each other to provide clear reception. That is about one antenna every 330 to 660 feet of coverage area. Antennas can be attached to utility poles and buildings. Ultra-speed connectivity will improve our lives. 5G can offer 1000x times the speed of 4G. The ultra-fast, ultra-powerful, secure network can bring more speed for audio, video, streaming, gaming internet for homes. 5G has more bandwidth. That will connect more devices to a single internet port — like a router.
It is estimated that 5G networks will add $1.5 trillion to America’s economy and will create 4.5 million new jobs over the next decade. Also, it will help the development of a variety of new services such as driverless cars, remote working, learning, and healthcare services. At the same time, there are some concerns about 5G’s impact on humans, health, the environment, and aviation.
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