Resolving C-Band 5G Mess Will Take at Least Another Year, FAA Says
If you live or work close enough to a major airport, you may not get much benefit from C-Band 5G’s speed upgrades until sometime in 2023.
That was one of few things clarified at a lengthy hearing held Thursday by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
“5G and aviation can safely coexist,” Steve Dickson, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, told the panel, before spending much of the next two hours describing how much more work that safe coexistence will require.
Dickson said he's content with steps taken so far by AT&T and Verizon to avoid possible interference on their initial C-Band 5G service on frequencies from 3.7 to 3.8GHz with radio altimeters that operate from 4.2 to 4.4GHz.
AT&T and Verizon have twice pushed back their C-Band launches and agreed not to deploy C-Band in buffer zones around airports identified by the FAA. The agency also began an intensive testing program that has now certified 90% of the US commercial fleet as safe to operate in low-visibility conditions that would require relying on radio altimeters.
“All parties are working together very effectively at this point,” Dickson said, crediting wireless carriers for providing the government with more detailed information about cell-site location, power strength, and signal shape.
But that leaves some small regional jets, plus many helicopters and business jets and, to a lesser extent, other “general aviation” aircraft, with altimeters still uncertified against C-Band interference.
Dickson suggested some of those altimeters could be fixed with radio-frequency filters, citing “promising discussions” with altimeter manufacturers. But ultimately, the FAA will need to write altimeter performance standards for C-Band
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