European aircraft manufacturers Airbus and American Boeing expressed their “concern” about possible disruption of their aircraft’s instruments by 5G, in a letter to the United States Department of Transport, Airbus said Tuesday.
“We confirm that Airbus Americas Managing Director Jeff Knittel and Boeing CEO David Calhoun have co-signed a letter to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg detailing shared concerns in the aviation industry on the deployment of 5G in the United States, ”an Airbus spokesperson told AFP.
“Airbus and Boeing are working, with other players in the aviation industry in the United States, to understand the potential interference of 5G with radio altimeters,” according to the source.
For its part, Boeing noted that “the aviation industry is focused on a comprehensive assessment and response to possible interference of 5G with radio altimeters.”
“We are cooperating with aviation authorities, government officials, airlines and representative industry groups to ensure the safety of aircraft operations around the world,” Boeing added, in a statement to AFP, without however. evoke the letter.
This reinforces the pressure on US regulators in a case that pits the airline sector against mobile phone operators.
Precautionary measures
Two of the main operators, Verizon and AT&T, were initially due to start using the 3.7-3.8 GHz frequency bands on December 5, which were allocated to them in February following a call for tenders by several tens of billions of dollars.
However, in early November, they agreed to postpone the launch to January, amid concerns from the US Aviation Agency (FAA) about potential interference problems with devices measuring altitude in planes. She requested additional information on these instruments, which operate in frequency bands that can be used for 5G.
The FAA has also issued new guidelines restricting the use of these aircraft devices in certain situations. American airlines have expressed their concern over the potential costs incurred, and called on the authorities to quickly find a solution.
In a joint letter sent at the end of November to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which oversees the deployment of 5G in the country, AT&T and Verizon for their part explained that they wanted to proceed with this deployment in January, but take until July 2022 precautionary measures in addition to those already provided for by law, while the FAA carries out its analyzes.
This is not the first time that this problem has arisen: in France, the authorities recommended last February to turn off 5G mobiles on board devices.
The “signal jamming by a wave of close frequency and of power comparable or greater than that of radio altimeters” would cause errors “particularly critical during instrument landing phases”, noted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
This had also imposed a power limitation on 5G antennas located near the 17 French airports “certified for so-called“ all-weather ”landing operations”.