NEW DELHI: The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday said that the issue of 5G spectrum interference raised by the Federation of Indian Pilots is uncorroborated.
The industry body said there is enough gap of 530 MHz (from 3670 MHz to 4200 MHz) in the transmission of frequencies, making it safe for 5G and aviation to co-exist.
“The matter has been highlighted in the past as well wherein the authorities have found the issue of spectrum interference uncorroborated. Thus, making it safe for 5G and aviation to co-exist. In the post-pandemic world, connectivity is an important issue and a bigger asset for the economy.
It is essential that the country has the required spectrum to meet the escalating demands for wireless connectivity,” said SP Kochhar, DG, COAI.
The 6,000-member Federation of Indian Pilots, on Jan 4, wrote to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and requested him to ask the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to develop a plan that enables the safe and efficient implementation of fifth generation (5G) mobile communications networks in the C-band, the frequency band that is allocated for commercial telecommunications via satellites.
Their concern came in the wake of the global aviation industry raising serious concerns over the potential interference of 5G wireless signals with sensitive aircraft equipment like radio altitude meters.