Centre holds meeting on restoration of 5G services around airports

The central government has stepped up efforts to restart 5G services in and around airports.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) held a meeting with officials of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), telecom companies and airline operators including other aviation stakeholders on Wednesday.

In this meeting, there was a discussion on resuming the services and stakeholders and aircraft manufacturers submitted their latest report on 5G service-related issues.

"The meeting was fruitful. Stakeholders have submitted their reports before the regulators. More such meetings will be called in this regard," an official who attended the meeting told ANI.

Last year the Department of Telecommunications sent a letter to telecom companies in India who has announced for 5G services in the country to not set up C-band 5G base stations within the 2.1 km range of Indian airports with immediate effect, as C Band 5G can cause problems with the aircraft's radio (radar) altimeter.

 

"5G service may affect the signals of the altimeter of the aircraft," DoT said.

The government is now exploring options to resume 5G services near the airports so that telecom companies can start 5G services using lower spectrum bands in and around the airports.

Representatives of DGCA, the Department of Telecom, telecom companies, airline companies, aircraft manufacturers and others aviation stakeholders participated in the meeting.

5G service at the airport has been barred since November last year.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US has also warned earlier that, "5G could affect the ability of some aircraft to take altitude readings. 5G can also affect the altimeters of the aircraft, which tell at what height the aircraft is flying from the ground."

Notably, 27 member countries of the European Union are using 5G networks near its airport with lower frequencies (3.4-3.8 GHz).