13. 5G Deployment and Upcoming Aviation Limitations

5G deployment and upcoming aviation limitations

Location: National

Issue/Source: 5G Rollout in Canada and interference with aircraft equipment / TRAN

Date: March 2024

Suggested responses:

• Aviation safety is paramount, and Transport Canada is committed to ensuring the safety of the aviation system during the deployment of 5G in Canada in the 3650 to 3900 MHz band (3800 MHz Band).
• The Department will not hesitate to take any actions that are deemed necessary to safeguard the aviation sector.
• ISED and Transport Canada have been working over the last two years on optimal ways to minimize impacts to aviation safety and its stakeholders. This includes ensuring that the Canadian 5G environment is deemed “no worse off” than the U.S. environment as well as facilitating the interoperability of Canadian and foreign operators in both jurisdictions.
• 5G is expected to be deployed in an incremental manner in Canada, with urban areas being affected first. Transport Canada and ISED are jointly identifying a way forward to reduce the burden on aviation stakeholders.
• Transport Canada will also promulgate a retrofit plan for aircraft considered not 5G tolerant in Canada. All aircraft operators are encouraged to proactively plan their retrofit.

Background information:

• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) will allow next generation 5G deployment in the 3650-3900 MHz band (3800 MHz), and service is expected to begin as early as May 29, 2024.
• Low-power non-competitive licensing deployment in the 3900-3980 MHz band (3900 MHz) is already allowed by ISED.
• Radio frequencies allocated to these services are near the ones used by aircraft radio altimeter equipment (RadAlt), which operates in the 4200-4400 MHz range. These frequencies carry risks to aviation safety due to possible interference with aircraft RadAlt equipment.
• Malfunctioning RadAlts due to 5G interference can potentially cause risks to aviation safety during takeoff or landing, as well as for helicopters hovering, by preventing the RadAlt from operating as expected.
• ISED and Transport Canada have been working over the last two years on optimal ways to deploy 5G in Canada while minimizing impacts to aviation safety.
• ISED has adopted a series of 5G mitigations based on its own study of 5G interference as well as input from Transport Canada recommendations, which under the current plans, are to be maintained until at least January 1^st, 2026. These include:
  • exclusion and protection zones to mitigate interference to aircraft having a certain level of 5G tolerance at certain runways at 35 airports covering 93% of air traffic in Canada;
  • Reduced fundamental emissions power levels at the runways at the 35 airports having protection and exclusion zones, implemented by EIRP elevation mask[1];
  • Reduced fundamental emissions power levels based on degree of antenna uptilt above the horizon, nationwide, to minimize skyward emissions from 5G base stations.
  • Maximum out-of-band (spurious) emission limits set at ‑30 dBm/MHz indefinitely.
• Transport Canada has identified that certain aviation limitations will still be required to maintain aviation safety despite 5G mitigations, and will also require that aircraft operators proceed with the installation of RadAlt filters or RadAlt replacements to maintain aviation safety. This will be accomplished through Airworthiness Directives.
• These aviation limitations will introduce a retrofit mandate to higher performing RadAlts and operational limitations. Aviation limitations can range from performance limitations (such as reduced maximum passenger count and/or cargo payload) to being grounded entirely, until they are adequately retrofitted.
• Large operators have already retrofitted their fleet’s RadAlts to meet U.S. 5Gtolerance requirements. This allows them to continue to fly into U.S. airspace without facing limitations.
• Regional operators, which do not regularly fly to the U.S., do not have their fleet retrofitted, and might be unable to retrofit most of their fleet before June 2024, when 5G deployment in the 3800 MHz band begins in Canada. 
• Regional operators are facing more challenges to retrofit their fleet in time due to a variety of factors including supply chain issues, labour shortages, and lack of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) support for older aircraft.
• Communities that depend on local aviation, particularly Indigenous, Northern and remote communities, may be impacted by aviation limitations due to their disproportionate reliance on unprotected airports served by regional operators facing greater difficulties in upgrading older aircraft.