Washington Rep. Larsen ‘frustrated’ with lack of coordination for 5G rollout

Washington Rep. Rick Larsen levied criticism this week against cell service providers for a 5G rollout he said lacked coordination.

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Larsen — who chairs the U.S. House aviation subcommittee — spoke to how telecommunication companies failed to coordinate the rollout of new 5G service with airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other stakeholders in the aviation industry.

The result was a rollout that had several airlines cancelling scores of flights over concerns that 5G signals may interfere with planes navigating through low-visibility situations. That’s because the new C-Band 5G frequencies are close to the frequencies used by the radio altimeters on planes. These altimeters use data from the ground to determine a plane’s altitude on landing.

And while the FAA eventually did clear most large passenger aircraft to fly in areas with 5G signals, Larsen pointed out that flight delays and cancellations could have been avoided in the first place.

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“I am equally, if not more, frustrated with the telecommunications industry that did not reach out to the aviation industry,” he said this week in Congress.

Larsen further argued that planned additional 5G rollouts over the next year and a half — as well as rumblings of 6G in the more distant future — underscore the need for better communication between all parties.

“What are we going to do to move forward to ensure that with the next rollout of the next version of 5G … the Federal Aviation Administration is in these conversations early with the Federal Communications Commission?” he posited. “When it does happen, the FCC and the FAA need to have every last discussion they need to have to ensure aviation safety in the 6G environment.”