5G deployment using the C-band spectrum in the United States (US) has worried a lot of people about the potential interferences it can cause to the sensitive aircraft equipment. However, that won’t be a problem in India. According to Abhishek Malhotra, Managing Partner, TMT Law Practice, the spectrum bands that will be used in India will not cause interference with the aircraft equipment. More precisely, it has been the altimeters, mostly in the Boeing jets, that have faced problems. In India, firstly, there’s a heavy movement of Airbus jets domestically and very few Boeing aircraft. Then, the frequencies used in India for 5G will be 3.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz. This creates a good enough spectrum guard for the altimeters inside the aircraft, which utilise spectrum in the 4.2 Ghz - 4.4 GHz. In the US, there’s not enough spectrum guard, as is the case in India. Thus, the possibility of interference exists in the US only and not within India.
India Doesn’t Need to Worry Too Much With the Deployment of 5G
The flights that were cancelled going out of India to the US were because of the issues that exist there and not in India. It is worth noting that the flights to the US that were cancelled by Air India were going to utilise Boeing jets. Thus the government can go on with its usual plan of allocating the frequencies in the 3.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz band for the rollout of 5G. The 5G spectrum auctions are expected to take place during the month of May this year however, nothing’s confirmed yet; it might be delayed further, as has been the case in the past.
