The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has warned U.S. airlines of possible interference between 5G frequencies and aircraft altimeters.
In the U.S., the issue of possible interference between the radio altimeters of airliners and the electromagnetic waves produced by the 5G towers of some telecommunications operators was recently raised. For the moment there is no certain information, but we are only trying to take the necessary precautions.
It seems that the issue concerns the so-called C band, a term that refers to all frequencies between 3.7 and 4.2 GHz, which were used many years ago for satellite TV, then replaced because they required too bulky antennas. Only with technological advancement and more advanced digital coding methods has the C-band begun to be used again for satellite broadcasting and, above all, for telecommunications. Just with the development of 5G solutions around the world, some doubts are beginning to arise, which could also affect airports and telecommunications in our country.
What's the problem with 5G in airports
Based on reports from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in recent weeks, it appears that the new 5G frequencies could interfere with aircraft altimeters. The C-band, used by American telecommunications companies AT&T and Verizon to provide greater speed and coverage, would have a similar range of frequencies.
It should be noted that so far these doubts have only been raised in the United States, and these 5G frequencies are by no means the same, but only close to those used by aircraft. What has raised some concerns is the possibility of interference during landing, when adverse weather conditions could cause visibility problems and you have to use the altimeter because you can't check it by sight.
The temporary solution proposed by the two American companies has been to reduce the power of their 5G towers near airports until a safe solution is found. So far, the only hypothesis has been to use band filters on the radio altimeters, although this would take a long time.
5G and airports: how are things in Italy
In our country, too, 5G frequencies belonging to the C band have been assigned to telephone operators, although the debate to grant local use to other subjects is still ongoing. In addition, since a part is used by radio link systems, it is necessary to understand how to share the spectrum in a safe way.
For the moment, however, there is no specific alarm from ENAC, our National Civil Aviation Authority, also because the 5G frequencies that would cause the problems mentioned above are not yet widely used by operators. It is not to be excluded that, when we start using them, the United States will have already identified a solution to the problem.