U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation, recently sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel expressing safety concerns about 5G broadband.
The telecom industry plans to utilize the C-band, the band of spectrum between 3.7 and 4.2 GHz, for 5G broadband service starting Jan. 5. Aviation industry experts warn that the use of the band would create harmful interference with radio altimeters in civil and military airplanes and helicopters.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a safety bulletin to the aviation community in November.
The lawmakers call for the FCC to provide the FAA with all technical data needed to conduct a robust assessment of the risks to aviation safety presented by the use of the C-band for 5G broadband service; and prohibit any 5G broadband transmissions in the C-band until the FAA has conducted its risk assessment and issued a conclusion.
“We would expect that, if the FAA cannot conclude that 5G broadband emissions in the C-band do not cause harmful interference with radio altimeters, the agency would take emergency action to prevent 5G interference from causing an accident through draconian but necessary restrictions on many types of critical flight operations, from airline flights to helicopter air ambulance operations to road traffic accidents,” the letter said.