According to reports, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is testing 5G connection with the space and technology departments to make sure it doesn't interfere with aircraft systems. The DoT plans to enhance 5G connectivity at about 124 airports across the nation.

If all goes according to plan, by the end of September, residents in the vicinity of airports as well as travelers will have access to 5G services. Due to worries about possible interference with aircraft radio altimeters, which determine an aircraft's altitude above the ground and aid in air traffic management, the 3,300–3,670 MHz band frequency—the one in which 5G services operate in India—is forbidden close to airports. 

"We are doing tests with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and in less than a month, we should have an answer. According to a top government source, it is one of the priorities."

According to the source, the telecom department recently approved the installation of in-building (IBS) solutions to increase coverage in and around airports. It is also collaborating with the civil aviation ministry to enhance 5G connection.

Systems and technologies known as "in-building" are intended to offer cellular and wireless high-quality connectivity indoors, where cell tower signal penetration may be limited.

The Department of Transportation (DoT) directed telecom carriers not to install 5G stations within 2.1 kilometers of each runway end in the 3,300–3,670 MHz band in November 2022.

Airport Connection

Indian telecoms who have launched 5G services on a commercial basis contend that the prohibition of the fifth-generation technology near airports is costing them money.

They have stated that because they have invested much in 5G spectrum, they are losing out on opportunities to make money from both businesses and consumers due to the absence of connections at airports.

The current altimeters are 500 MHz distant from 5G frequencies, operating in the 4,200–4,400 MHz range. There have been worries expressed over potential interference brought on by radio altimeters' subpar out-of-band receiving capabilities.

June saw a letter from the Global System for Mobile Communications A (GSMA), an international organization that represents telecom service providers, requesting that the DoT reevaluate its 2022 ruling and let telcos to extend their mobile networks throughout airports.

A 530 MHz guard band, greater than in many other nations, already existed between mobile systems and radio altimeters as part of the nation's 5G assignments in the 3.5 GHz band, it claimed.

"We urge the DoT to take necessary steps with the stakeholders in the aviation sector for expediting replacement of radio altimeters in a specific timeframe that is eventually identified as potentially susceptible to emissions outside their band (and, in particular, to emissions in the" 5G "band), to allow harmonious coexistence between the different services and technologies that use the radio spectrum," the GSMA stated in its June statement.

The problem started when the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a warning in January 2022 about potential interference with aircraft altimeter systems from 5G transmissions in the C-spectrum range (3,300–4,200 MHz) functioning in the adjacent 4,200–4,400 MHz band.

In contrast to the US, where 5G networks may operate up to 3,980 MHz, the situation in India is different. In the US, there is just a 220 MHz spectral gap between radio altimeters and 5G systems. According to GSMA, it is 530 MHz in India—nearly twice as much as it is in the US.

To keep two wider frequency ranges from interfering with one another, a guard band is a small frequency that divides them.

By the end of Q1 2024, 186 operators (including FWA launches) out of approximately 300 operators providing 5G services have established their next-generation networks using the 3.5 GHz frequency spectrum. According to GSMA, there have been "no reported cases of interference" caused by 5G networks.