No high power 5G antennae near runways as DoT issues safety guidelines based on DGCA recco

New Delhi: Govt Tuesday directed telecommunications service providers (TSP) to “implement exclusion zones in and around airports for installation and operation of C band 5G international mobile telecom stations” to avoid potentially catastrophic interference from 5G signals to aircraft systems — including radio altimeters that measure a plane’s aircraft's height above the terrain directly below it. This essentially means TSPs will have to install low power 5G antennae near runways to avoid string signals causing interference with aircraft systems.

The Union aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had last Nov suggested revised exclusion zones for ensuring safe landings and take offs. “The matter has been under deliberation of the department of telecommunications (DoT), civil aviation (ministry or MoCA) and DGCA.. the revised exclusion zones recommended (by) MoCA have been agreed as an interim measure till the upgradation or retrofitting of radio altimeters,” a DoT order issued Tuesday said.

People in the know said aviation agencies in India had objected to rollout of 5G near airports due to aviation safety reasons. A radio altimeter giving a wrong reading can even lead to a crash. A paper by Boeing titled “5G radio altimeter interference” says: “Governments around the world are implementing 5G cellular systems in frequency ranges adjacent to or near the radio frequency band used by radio altimeters. The aviation industry and aviation regulators are concerned these 5G deployments will cause interference to radio altimeters… Concerns are based on a study done by industry and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (which) concluded 5G transmissions can interfere with radio altimeters.” As a result of this study, alerts for 5G interference were issued by the Civil Aviation Authorities of France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Oman and UAE.

Several advanced countries have safeguards for this with rules from the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European and European Union Aviation Safety Agency. India will also have similar safeguards and as an interim measure there will not be high powered 5G antennae near runways,” they said.

The aviation authorities in India suggested an “envelope” near runways and prescribed the minimum distance at which certain low powered 5G antennae can be installed. The DoT order issued Tuesday to Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone and BSNL added, “Hence, (an earlier) DoT letter is suppressed and the exclusion zones (no C band and buffer zones) stands revised. TSPs are permitted to install and operate C band 5G/IMT services in frequency band 3300- 3670 MHz in and around airport areas as per the revised exclusion zone and technical conditions.”

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