DGCA raises concerns over 5G rollout: Report

Air India had to cancel several flights to the US owing to the possibility of 5G services interfering with aircraft navigation

As the Telecom Department of India is all set to roll out 5G services, the aviation safety regulator has raised concerns over the possibility of 5G C-Band spectrum interfering with the radio altimeters of aircraft, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has flagged the possibility of 5G signals disrupting the altimeter signals, a significant instrument used in aviation that provides information on the distance between the ground and the aircraft. The altimeters also operate in C-Band spectrum. The high bandwidth assured by C-Band offers a sweet spot for rolling out 5G services offering much faster internet speed.

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"The radio altimeters pick up the faintest signals reflected off the ground in the assigned frequencies to achieve highly accurate results. These out-of-band signals could significantly impair functions of a radio altimeter," a government official told the publication.

Taking note of the red flags raised by the DGCA, an official of the Department of Telecommunications dismissed the suspected impact of 5G rollout on altimeters, pointing out the "significant" 500 MHz gap between the frequency ranges.

The conflict between 5G and altimeters was initially raised in the US where 5G services were being deployed near airports. Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued several directives to airlines to install certain filters or modify their equipment to ensure that 5G airwaves do not interfere with their navigation systems.