Deployment of 5G technology in US has become a bone of contention between airline companies Air India and Emirates and US telecom companies AT&T and Verizon. Air India had cancelled 14 flights on India-US routes due to deployment of 5G internet in North America which could potentially interfere with aircraft's radio altimeters.

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It is being reported that US telecom companies AT&T and Verizon is using a C-band frequency for the 5G service.

The radio altimeter measures height of the aircraft above the ground, allowing it to do low-visibility landings. The frequency band on which altimeter works is close to that on which 5G system works.
However, Air India said it has resumed six India-US flights on Boeing B777 aircraft on Thursday after the plane manufacturer gave the clearance to operate them, as per a PTI report.  The airline also said all flights to the US will normalise from Friday.

 

5G technology - pros and cons

Let us see what is 5G and what are its pros and cons.

5G technology is an upgradation from the 4G technology. Following its implementation, automatic driving of cars, advance defence mechanism, video monitoring, mobile cloud and computing will become easier.

This will also increase the speed of data transfer. It is believed that with the implementation of 5G technology, the speed will be around 20 gbps. The 4G speed is restricted to 2 gbps.

Now, let us consider the danger that comes with 5G. The 5G wave towers can be installed very close to the houses of the people and radiation can have adverse effects on the environment, as well as the people. This can cause cancer and can also impact the DNA of an individual.

There are two types of radiation - ionising and non-ionising. The ionising radiation emit gamma rays which are harmful for the human body. On the other hand, the non-ionising radiation is not harmful for the human body. In case of 5G, this non-ionising radiation is being used.

There are a lot of speculations regarding 5G. However, not much truth is present to whatever is speculated.

Risk for aviation due to 5G?

The US aviation regulator had on January 14 said that "5G interference with the aircraft's radio altimeter could prevent engine and
braking systems from transitioning to landing mode, which could prevent an aircraft from stopping on the runway", a PTI report stated.

FAA stated on Thursday that it has made progress during the last two weeks to safely reduce the risk of delays and cancellations as altimeter manufacturers evaluate data from wireless companies to determine how robust each model is.

US aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in a fresh directive on Thursday, said radio altimeters fitted in certain types of aircraft, including B777, will not be affected by 5G services.

Subsequently, an Air India spokesperson told PTI that Boeing has cleared the carrier to operate to the US on B777 aircraft.

"Accordingly, first flight left this morning to JFK (New York). Other flights leaving in the day are to Chicago and SFO (San Francisco). Arrangements to carry stranded passengers are being worked out. Matter regarding B777 flying into the USA has been sorted," the spokesperson said on Thursday.

The Air India flights that have resumed their operations from Thursday are Delhi-New York, New York-Delhi, Delhi-Chicago, Chicago-Delhi, Delhi- San Francisco and San Francisco-Delhi.

Along with these six flights, two other flights - Mumbai-Newark and Newark-Mumbai -were cancelled by Air India on Wednesday.