India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to decide whether to lift a ban on 5G around airports once it has carried out a detailed study.

Late last year DoT instructed operators to disable 5G base stations in the mid-band (3.3-3.6GHz) within 2km from both ends of the runway and almost 1km from the centre line of the runway.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), wrote to DoT in December 2022 to suggest allowing 5G base stations to be turned back on, pointing out that aircraft altimeter systems run on C-band airwaves from 4.2GHz and above, and not the 3.30-3.67GHz spectrum that is being used for 5G services in India, so interference should not be an issue.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has said that it didn’t want the 5G base stations shut off, and that there was no mention of any specific service area around airports in a communication it had sent to the telecom ministry.

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