DGCA writes to telecom dept, flags concern over rollout of 5G services

Raising concerns regarding the 5G rollout, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) on likely interference of the spectrum with aircraft, a media reported on Friday.

A radio altimeter provides direct-height-above-terrain information to several aircraft systems.

According to a report published in The Indian Express, the primary concern for the aviation regulator is that altimeters and a part of the 5G telecom services operate in the C-Band.

The report added that the DGCA is working with the telecom department and has informed about its concerns. While for the telecom service providers, the C-Band represents a sweet spot for rolling out 5G services and ensuring coverage and high bandwidth, it provides exact measurements of the plane’s altitude for aircraft operations.

DGCA’s concern comes after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) raised concerns since telecom operators in the US started rolling out 5G services.

The radio altimeters pick up even the faintest signals, reflected off the ground in the assigned frequencies, to attain highly accurate results. Therefore, the instruments can pick up ‘out-of-band’ signals, which could significantly impair the altimeters’ functioning.

According to DoT official, they are working together toward resolving the concerns. The official also added that the issue in the US became significant because the operators there are deploying 5G services in the 3.7-3.98 GHz frequencies, which is closer to the radio altimeter frequencies.

The rollout is expected to occur on September 29 at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress. However, it is yet to be seen if there will be yet another delay in the rollout of 5G services after DGCA’s letter.