So I was watching the news this morning and seeing a bunch of finger pointing over the 5G roll out.
The airline industry is jumping up and down about the telecom industry and vice versa. What a joke.
What is it all about? In a nut shell the telecoms are rolling out their new 5g equipment. They are lighting up towers on new frequencies and the equipment in the airplanes has a sensitivity to those frequencies.
The aviation industry is up in arms over these frequencies and they do not want to fly the affected aircraft into areas where those towers are sitting. It is for our safety. For those aboard the craft as well as those below.
The telecoms in their normal our shit is more important than yours fashion says that the airlines need to take corrective action as a couple of other countries have done.
Well… who is correct? Whose fault is this? Well, I have a thought… how about there being two parties at fault.
The telecoms bought at auction, frequencies that were too close those used by the aviation equipment. Specifically the radio altimeter. This is a technology that has roots well before 5g. They failed to do their homework. understanding wavelengths and propagation is a pretty big part of their business for them to ignore it. I think that they figured that their wallets were more important than people lives.
Who is the other party I am pinning blame on? The FCC. I have not heard anything about them in this today. Of course I have been pretty busy working, so perhaps I missed that conversation. I was only seeing the two sides pointing at one another. Did they not see the potential for hazardous conditions? Is this the same (politicized) FCC leadership that sold us out to stop net neutrality?
The FAA should do whatever it can to protect their equipment, but in the end, it is the transmitting stations responsibility to play nicely with their neighbors. Their harmful interference needs to be curtailed. The telecom providers need to seek a different range of frequencies to deploy their network on. Oh… the equipment that they bought is not build for different frequencies? Well shit, that sucks then. Lives still do not outweigh dollars in a civilized society. Suck it telecoms find new frequencies. Break out your slide rules and figure it out.
Shame on the FCC for allowing this all to fall into place.

Do you have a different take on this? Fire up a comment and let’s discuss it.