https://www.lightreading.com/5g/the-5g-debacle-in-the-c-band-isnt-over-yet/a/d-id/774729?

By MIKE DANO, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, 1/20/2022

It’s been a remarkable week in 5G. Dozens of international flights were canceled or modified due to airline industry concerns that 5G operations in C-band spectrum could interfere with aircraft radio altimeters.

However, thanks to last-minute concessions forced onto Verizon and AT&T, fears that 5G would literally crash airplanes have now been averted. As a result, airlines ranging from Emirates to Japan Airlines have resumed flights into the US.

“I don’t think you’re going to see any material disruption going forward” due to 5G, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said Thursday during his company’s quarterly conference call, according to a CNBC reporter.

But that doesn’t mean the issue has been resolved. A complete fix could take years, and it could cost millions – or even billions – of dollars.

Read more at: https://www.lightreading.com/5g/the-5g-debacle-in-the-c-band-isnt-over-yet/a/d-id/774729?

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News Analysis MIKE DANO, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies

8/17/2021

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile collectively spent almost $100 billion on C-band spectrum licenses for 5G earlier this year. Now, just a few months before that spectrum is scheduled to be put to use commercially, a large group of major aerospace and airline companies is warning the FCC that 5G operations in that spectrum band could have disastrous effects on the nation’s air travel.

“Major disruptions to passenger air travel, commercial transport and critical helicopter operations can be expected from the rollout of 5G under the commission’s order,” the group wrote to the FCC.

The group’s basic concern centers on how 5G operations in C-band spectrum could affect radio altimeters in aircraft. The wireless industry has generally rejected such interference concerns.

Interfering altitude

Nonetheless, the development casts a cloud over the hopes of AT&T and Verizon to supercharge their 5G aspirations with spectrum that would undoubtedly improve their services. While Verizon and AT&T today offer 5G services that generally aren’t much faster than 4G, midband C-band spectrum promises to support much speedier connections across wide swaths of the country. Already T-Mobile is using similar midband spectrum – in the 2.5GHz band, just below the 3.7GHz C-band – to offer 5G download speeds around 350 Mbit/s.

That’s likely why the FCC’s C-band spectrum auction raised a record $81 billion in total bids – a figure that doesn’t include billions of additional dollars operators are spending to free the spectrum quickly and to install C-band transmission radios around the country.

However, at least a portion of all that spending could be threatened by the aerospace and airline industry, which is warning that 5G transmissions in C-band spectrum could interfere with radio altimeters used in everything from helicopters to commercial aircraft.

“Such harmful interference could lead to an escalation of negative outcomes, from missed approaches, delays, diversions and flight cancellations, to the shutting down of runways on an indefinite basis,” wrote a large number of airline and aerospace trade associations and companies including Aerospace Industries Association, Airlines for America, American Airlines, The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation, among others. In meetings with FCC officials, the group also “discussed the critical role of accurate radar altitude during escape maneuvers that can be required by large commercial air transport and other aircraft during wind shear events and that occur near the ground. Loss of, or incorrect, radar altitude due to flexible use interference would greatly reduce chances of a successful safe outcome.”

Radio altimeters help measure the altitude of an object and are common in aircraft of all types.

Dismissing the concerns

In previous filings to the FCC on the topic, the wireless industry has generally rejected such interference concerns. “The commission correctly determined that C-band 5G can operate without causing interference, let alone harmful interference, to neighboring services in nearby bands,” the CTIA, the main trade group representing AT&T, Verizon and other major wireless companies, wrote in an April filing to the FCC. “The commission should dismiss the aviation industry’s unsupported claims.”

Read more at: https://www.lightreading.com/5g/airlines-warn-of-major-disruptions-from-5g-in-c-band/d/d-id/771518

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WASHINGTON — The Defense Department will focus on preventing interference to aviation instruments rather than trying to stop the Federal Communications Commission from auctioning C-band spectrum used for 5G communication, officials tell Defense News.

The Pentagon’s decision comes despite industry’s concerns about the functionality of a key aviation technology, which led to a Dec. 1 memo from the head of the Federal Aviation Administration and the number two at the Department of Transportation requesting the FCC pause the sale. The letter was sent after an aviation trade group found that 5G operations could cause harmful interference to radar altimeters, which are used by civil, military and commercial airplanes and helicopters to measure the distance between the aircraft and the ground.

But rather than push back at the FCC, Pentagon officials believe their energies are best spent focused on studying how the deployment of 5G networks throughout U.S. metropolitan areas will impact military aircraft and putting in place a strategy to mitigate any safety concerns, said Alan Burke, the Pentagon’s chair for the interagency Aviation Cyber Initiative Task Force.

“The approach should be not on trying to slow down 5G metro deployment, but speeding up development and testing of mitigations that can serve as an interim gap until avionics manufacturers can harden their systems,” Burke said during a Jan. 7 interview.

“The longer-term challenge is going to be making — not just radar altimeters — but avionics systems that are resilient to out-of-band interference, understanding what that interference is and what mitigations are required.”

Read more at: https://www.defensenews.com/air/2021/01/21/as-5g-auction-continues-pentagon-turns-to-safety-risk-mitigation-plans/

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McLean, VA – Intelsat, operator of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial network, today announced it has finalized all of its required contracts with satellite manufacturers and launch-vehicle providers to move forward and meet the accelerated C-band spectrum clearing timelines established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier this year.

The company has entered into a formal agreement with U.S.-based Maxar Technologies to build the final satellite required to support its C-band transition and maintain the FCC’s post-transition, “same or better” quality-of-service standard. Earlier this summer, Intelsat announced manufacturing contracts with Maxar and U.S.-based Northrop Grumman for six satellites.

Intelsat has contracted with SpaceX and Arianespace to launch these satellites on four separate launch vehicles, beginning in 2022. The diversity of manufacturers and launch-vehicle providers will lower transition program costs and help Intelsat mitigate potential launch-delay risks that could prevent the company from meeting the FCC’s accelerated clearing deadlines.

Read more at: https://www.intelsat.com/newsroom/intelsat-finalizes-satellite-and-launch-vehicle-contracts-for-u-s-c-band-spectrum-transition/

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Document Type(s): News Release

Bureau(s): Media Relations, Wireless Telecommunications

Description:
Chairman Pai Welcomes Satellite Operators’ Decision to Choose Faster Clearing of Critical Mid-Band Spectrum

https://www.fcc.gov/document/c-band-spectrum-will-be-available-5g-services-accelerated-basis

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