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India has just started rolling out 5G networks after a long wait and years of delay. Service operators expect to bring next-generation mobile connectivity to every city in the world’s second-largest wireless market by the end of 2023. But while the rollout is currently in its initial stages, New Delhi last week ordered telecom operators not to deploy 5G infrastructure around areas near airports to avoid disruption to flight operations.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the government body that governs telecoms in the South Asian country, in its recent order to telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, ordered them to limit their infrastructure enabling C-Band 5G networks ( between 3.3 -3.67 GHz) with a distance of more than 2.1 kilometers from the end points of the runway at all airports in the country. It also ordered all three operators to limit the power output of their equipment installed beyond the given range.
The restrictions were imposed in response to concerns from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In September, the Air Force Department suspected that 5G networks operating in the C-band spectrum would interfere with flight altimeters — the instrument that helps pilots maintain the required altitude during flight.
The US airline industry raised similar concerns in January when AT&T and Verizon activated their C-Band 5G networks. In June, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that aviation and wireless industry stakeholders had identified steps to protect commercial flights from 5G interference and allowed AT&T and Verizon to continue improving their services at certain airports with the least risk of disrupting flight schedules.
Shortly after concerns about network outages surfaced in the US, India’s Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnau assured the industry in February that the South Asian country would not face such problems.
“In the US, especially in older aircraft, the altimeter frequency is close to the one used to provide 5G services,” he said at a press conference, adding that the frequency used by flight altimeters in India was far from the frequencies specified for 5G. services.
PD Vaghela, chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, made a similar statement in an interview with the English daily Times of India in January.
“India will have no problem.” Prima facie, there is no problem for the aerospace industry in India to roll out 5G spectrum,” he said.
C-band frequencies — part of the mid-range spectrum — range between 4-8 GHz. Telecom operators in the US have a C-band that covers the frequency range of 3.7-3.98 GHz, which in some cases can intercept the altimeter range between 4.2-4.4 GHz. However, the Indian government has auctioned the mid-band spectrum in the 3.3-3.6 GHz range.
Peeiush Vaish, partner and telecom sector leader at Deloitte, said Indian operators have a clear separation of 530MHz from the international altimeter band. There has been no reported interference between 5G and aircraft frequencies in Europe, South Korea and Japan — all of which have launched 5G services based on 5G bands similar to those allocated in India, he said.
Regardless, the country’s telcos are evaluating a series of steps as directed by the telecom department, multiple sources with knowledge of the development told TechCrunch.
Airtel has so far deployed its infrastructure to enable 5G connectivity at four airports in the country, while Jio has also planned to make a similar move in the coming days.
Due to the restrictions, Airtel and Jio have to re-evaluate their plans. The first must also turn off the radio for now.
The DoT director general and India’s independent telecom body, the Mobile Operators Association of India, did not respond to requests for comment.
Experts believe that consumers near airports are unlikely to get 5G on their compatible devices.
The directive indicates that a customer in Aerocity in New Delhi or a customer in Santacruz in Mumbai may not get 5G for now, a source working at a telecom operator who asked not to be named told TechCrunch. The impact, however, would be less in cities including Bengaluru, where airports are miles away from local residences, they said.
Deloitte’s Vaish said that while current network infrastructure is unlikely to be affected by the restrictions, construction of a new tower near the city’s airports could be delayed for now.
Although the guidance is limited to specific C-Band network frequencies, the impact appears to be significant as telcos consider the specific band for widespread 5G connectivity across devices.
Amitoy Aria, a partner at EI, said that since the interference problem does not affect all airlines and is limited to a certain type of aircraft, 5G can be rolled out in phases while affected planes are retrofitted with interference-resistant altimeters. He also suggested that telecommunications systems could be directed to run 5G services around airports with reduced power levels and technological interventions on 5G antennas.
“5G has the potential to alleviate several pain points of airports and airlines, such as aircraft data analysis and predictive maintenance, autonomous apron operations, automated baggage handling, AI-based passenger tracking and screening, etc. It is therefore crucial to identify ways to allow 5G technology near airports without compromising passenger safety and security,” he said.
DGCA is exploring replacement of filters for radio altimeters in aircraft to overcome the telecommunication roadblock. However, it would take months for all flights to receive the upgraded systems.
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