The FCC is considering putting more restrictions on wireless use of C-band, including a nationwide power reduction. That occurs as the Biden administration works on how best to free up that spectrum for 5G without risking interference to aviation communications. Wireless deployments in the band were delayed from December 5, given concerns by the Federal Aviation Administration, but are now scheduled to launch January 5, 2022.
In answers to questions from Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Rosenworcel said information the agency received from the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics suggested wireless 5G operations could cause erroneous aviation radio altimeter readings, reported NextTV. This occurred after the agency approved rules for wireless use on the band.
Rosenworcel told Cantwell the Commission is taking the report “very seriously,” enough to open a proceeding to review the findings and determine whether any changes need to be made to the C-band rules. But she also said that, “out of an abundance of caution,” the FCC, as part of ongoing talks with the FAA, is considering several potential new interference mitigation strategies, including creating exclusion zones around airports and helipads, reducing power nationwide, and limiting “skyward” transmissions.
Last month, AT&T and Verizon said they would delay until January their use of the spectrum. That decision came after the FAA expressed its continuing interference concerns about the C-band and put out bulletins advising pilots, aircraft owners, manufacturers and others on the potential impact of 5G operations in the C-band on radio altimeters, which measure how close a plane is to terrain.
The carriers also pledged to cut 5G power levels for six months. However, a coalition of aviation and aerospace groups said those efforts were not enough, Inside Towers reported.
The coalition pitched the FCC on its own counter-proposal that “provides additional safeguards in, around, and on the approach to airports and heliports.” It’s one of the mitigation strategies the agency is considering, according to NextTV.
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