Verizon, AT&T – no 5G for you
Some International airlines have suspended or redirected flights due to an issue that really should have been discovered years ago involving neighboring frequencies of radio altimeters and the blocks that AT&T and Verizon own.
The issue is the bandwidth blocks that were sold to VZW and ATT can cause interference with altitude measuring equipment used near runways. Basically the last 20 or so seconds of a flight in no visibility landing scenarios, you could use a radio altimeter to make a blind landing,
T-Mobile wants you to live. That’s the takeaway.
The FCC, which sold the blocks, the FAA which handles the equipment, and the FDA who calls airline snacks food, basically have had years to sort this out and didn’t… looking at you you supposedly easy-open bag of pretzels… they’ve also let it reach a crisis point where overseas airlines are planning on diverting flights based on expected low visibility scenarios at 12+ hours.
It’s kind of nuts, which are also supposed to be an easy tear item, and usually are unlike the pretzels.
AT&T and Verizon are once again delaying the rollout of their 5G near airports, and the question becomes is this just another delay? Will the bandwidth that the FCC auctioned off be refunded? Can’t they go live on high visibility days days in these areas? When we were all out wearing our tinfoil hats and screaming that 5G was brain control while burning down the towers did nobody check for interference with radio altimeters?
Can anyone with a cell phone or device on an airplane that can operate in that spectrum interfere with a radio altimeter if they’ve rooted and are forcing broadcast on that band?
Fun times.
[NPR]
