5G: Due to a risk to aviation safety, its deployment by US operators has been suspended

On Tuesday, October 2, the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement warning of potential interference between 5G networks and aircraft security devices. Bloomberg.

Possible interference with radars

In fact, some 5G frequencies will be adjacent to the radio signals used by altimeters. These devices are used to measure the distance between aircraft and the ground. The FAA is currently working with other agencies responsible for this topic to try to get the two technologies to coexist without interference.

Radar altimeters are used in airplanes and helicopters, particularly during landing in low visibility or to alert the pilot that he is approaching the ground. In its newsletter, the FAA calls on commercial airline pilots to ask passengers to turn off their 5G phones or put them into airplane mode.

No “proven examples”

For these reasons, phone operators Verizon and AT&T have announced that they are suspending the deployment of C-band 5G networks. In the United States, the C band ranges from 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GHz. In addition to its press release, the FAA considers that “proven examples of interference due to wireless telephone networks have not yet been reported internationally.”

call him NSFrance Press agencyAT&T specifies that it has suspended the technology’s deployment, and time “to continue to work in good faith with the FCC and the FAA to understand the concerns expressed by the FAA.”