The United States Federal Aviation Administration FAA has warned the major airlines in the U.S. to immediately address the concerns regarding the 5G wireless rollout, which could cause disruptions to the airports.
Following this announcement, the agency's acting administrator Billy Nolen penned a letter about Verizon and AT&T's plans to roll out C-Band 5G services.
Wireless Carriers Could Interrupt Aircraft
(Photo : L.Filipe C.Sousa from Unsplash)
FAA has a warning on the airlines regarding the C-Band 5G service from known wireless network operators.
Verizon and AT&T are expected to begin implementing their C-Band services in some airports in the country next month. This decision came after the two wireless network operators had previously delayed the rollout of 5G.
As such, it was stated in the report by Reuters that airplane altimeters can be affected by the 5G service. This device is responsible for measuring altitude.
If this device is interrupted with the 5G rollout, the plane could potentially encounter problems in bad-weather landing. This is one of the reasons why some airports struggle in the US in early 2022.
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Airline CEOs Should Quickly Act Now
Nolen said that airlines should immediately act and focus on retrofitting the radio altimeters. The official said there are "no guarantees" that the big markets will retain the current safeguards.
According to Fierce Wireless, Nolen warned that although the carriers are a huge help in boosting signals of some "less capable aircraft," they could not access some airports with no altimeter retrofits.
Back on Jan. 17, the 5G deployment could result in the so-called "catastrophic" aviation issues, according to the CEOs of some major US airlines.
Just recently, Reuters reported that the FAA is helping the two carrier firms identify the markets. This will help determine if the surging signal or a tower could contribute to the disruption.
"We are working toward an equally aggressive schedule that would necessitate the completion of retrofits for the third and largest group in 2023," Nolen said.
The FAA administrator continued that the two companies will continue to implement the network rollout in late 2023.
At the time, Nolan added that there were 19 companies that would enter the market. These firms will aid in bringing mitigation measures.
Verizon and AT&T's Stance
As per Verizon, it's currently working with the aviation agency and FCC (Federal Communications Commission). The company says that it will deploy the C-bad without causing any problems to the industry.
Meanwhile, AT&T did not respond to the question regarding the rollout of the 5G service and its impact on the aircraft.
In other news, Tech Times reported that eBay had dropped a new feature that will allow vendors to start selling on a live stream. With the newly-launched eBay Live, the users could now buy products through a different mode.
Speaking of which, sellers could now present their products to an online audience. In return, the streamers could now have the freedom to select what particular product they will purchase.
As of writing, eBay has only released the option in beta.
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Written by Joseph Henry
