Two days before the launch of Fifth Generation Networks, across the United States, American airlines warned that this could disrupt flights and lead to disaster, raising questions about the cause of the warning and its purpose.

In early 2021, Verizon and AT&T won about $ 80 billion in contracts to operate 5G networks in the United States, but the launch of the project was twice postponed due to warnings from airlines and aircraft manufacturers. New communication system with instruments used to measure altitude.

In a letter to Transport Secretary Pete Buttigig and government officials, the airline chiefs said: “We urgently request that 5G networks be enabled throughout the country, except approximately two miles from airport runways, as defined by the Federal Aviation Administration. ”I am on January 19, 2022.

What is the cause of the crisis?

Both carriers have decided to deploy the 5G network in the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz band in the spectrum known as the C-band, while the altimeters operate in the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz band.

The concern of the airlines is that the fifth generation network transmit frequencies are close to the altimeters, which measure the distance the aircraft travels over the ground, facilitate automated landings and monitor dangerous wind currents.

Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines, said last month that 5G operating guidelines would prevent the use of radio altimeters at some of the 40 largest U.S. airports.

U.S. Airlines has warned that these proposals could disrupt up to four percent of daily flights.

“If the problem remains unresolved, such as when there is bad weather, cloudy or thick fog at major U.S. airports, it means you can only do this visually, primarily,” Kirby said.

But the two carriers contracted to deploy the 5G network argue that the system has been deployed in more than 40 other countries, with no problems with aviation intervention.

Both companies said they had agreed to set up buffer zones at 50 U.S. airports, similar to those used in France for six months to reduce the risk of interference.

But airlines say the frequency of 5G network penetration in Europe is lower than in the US.

In 2019, the European Union set standards for the fifth-generation, mid-range, 3.4 to 3.8 GHz frequencies, which are lower than the service set to launch in the United States.

Bandwidth has been auctioned off in Europe and is still used without issue in many of the block’s 27 member states.

The high frequency of the spectrum speeds up service and gets the full value from the 5G network, but Verizon said it will not use the spectrum over the high band (3.98 GHz) for years.

The fifth-generation network for mobile phones in South Korea operates in the frequency range of 3.42 to 3.7 GHz, and no radio interference has been reported since then, according to a certificate from the U.S. Wireless Commerce Group and the Federal Communications Commission. The network was launched in April 2019. 5G mobile radio stations are currently operating near airports and no problems have been reported.