Airlines won’t face interference from 5G frequencies in India: Ashwini Vaishnaw

The Indian government will conduct an auction for 5G spectrum in India in 2022 and the telecom companies are expected to start deploying 5G connectivity in the financial year 2022-2023. The roll out of 5G services is expected to be completed by 2025. On the heels of this announcement, Union Communication and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has clarified that the airlines won’t face any interference when the 5G network is rolled out in India.

“In the US, especially in the older aircraft, the altimeters’ frequency is close to the one being used to render 5G services,” Vaishnaw said adding that the frequency used by altimeters in India is different from the one that is being auctioned for rolling out 5G services in India. “Thus, the problem of interference won’t affect us,” the Communications Minister said, as reported by ET Telecom.

For those who aren’t sure, an altimeter is used by aircrafts to determine the height above a fixed level. In the US, the altimeter that is used in the aircraft operates at a frequency ranging between 4.2GHz and 4.4GHz, which is likely to interfere with the 5G signals in the C-band that is being deployed at a frequency ranging between 3.3GHz to 4.2GHz. This is why Air India had cancelled eight US-bound flights last month and the US Federal Aviation Administrator (FAA) had issued a warning in this regard.

But Vaishnaw has confirmed that airlines in India won’t face a similar issue as India is planning to auction 5G frequencies in the C-band giving enough buffer space between the two. As per reports, India is planning to auction frequencies ranging between 3.3GHz and 3.67GHz.

Notably, Vaishnaw’s statement follows a similar clarification made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in this regard.

“India will have no problems. Prima facie, there are no problems for the aviation industry within India over 5G spectrum roll out,” TRAI chairman PD Vaghela had said in a statement to The Times of India last month when several flights had been cancelled or rescheduled owing to fear of interference with the 5G network.

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