Telecom
How 5G Could Make a Mess of a Flight
If certain not-yet-activated 5G phone frequencies don’t stay in airplane mode, the Unites States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is prepared to hang up on some flights in January.
This was contained in a article carried by written by Rob Pegoraro in USA TODAY.
According to the article, the regulatory agency (FAA)announced early in December that possible interference with aircraft radio altimeters from upcoming C-Band cell-site transmitters would require it to prohibit pilots from relying on those instruments to track their altitude above the ground near particular airports.
Or in plainer language than that of this FAA Airworthiness Directive: If bad weather means pilots can’t see a runway near those cell sites after AT&T and Verizon light up C-Band frequencies January 5, expect them to land elsewhere. Or not take off at all.
“You’ll be forced to divert the flight to an airport that is not 5G-covered,” said Robert Mann, president of the aviation-industry consulting firm R.W. Mann. & Co. “Or you’ll have to not dispatch the plane.”
But while we won’t know which flights might get an FAA veto until the agency issues NOTAMs (“Notice to Air Missions”) naming airports, the weather allows forecasts. John Cox, a retired US Airways pilot who writes USA TODAY’s Ask the Captain column, said the D.C.-to-Boston megalopolis and the Pacific Northwest were especially at risk of cascading interruptions.
“The whole Northeast Corridor can be down when you have the right fog conditions,” he said. “The other one that concerns me is the Northwest: Seattle, Portland, those areas where the fog is a matter of routine.”
The actual risk of interference remains unclear. As the FAA directive notes, the 3.7-3.98 GHz frequencies for which AT&T and Verizon paid $23 and $45 billion early this year don’t overlap radio altimeters’ 4.2-4.4 GHz frequencies. Some models of altimeter might get confused anyway by adjacent signals–but we still don’t know which ones.
The FAA says bandwidth recently assigned to 5G can interfere with a plane’s radio altimeter, which uses radio frequencies to help determine how close a plane is to the ground when it’s coming in for a landing. © mikulas1/Getty Images The FAA says bandwidth recently assigned to 5G can interfere with a plane’s radio altimeter, which uses radio frequencies to help determine how close a plane is to the ground when it’s coming in for a landing.
“There’s no excuse for the FAA’s delay in its survey of existing altimeter models,” complained Harold Feld, senior vice president at the tech-policy nonprofit Public Knowledge, who wrote last month that this research should have started a year ago.
AT&T and Verizon already pushed back their C-Band launches – which will fill a gap in their 5G networks compared to T-Mobile, which already offers fast “midband” 5G on 2.5 GHz frequencies – and in November agreed to reduce C-Band signals’ power for six months.
The wireless-industry trade group CTIA also points to successful C-Band 5G deployments in dozens of other countries, but the FAA directive notes that regulators elsewhere require “temporary technical, regulatory, and operational mitigations.”
The Air Line Pilots Association supports the agency; union spokesperson Corey Kuhn emailed a list of those mitigations, most featuring much tighter restrictions on C-Band power. For example, in November Canada announced limits on C-Band power around airports and a ban on C-Band cell sites closer to runways; implementing those rules here would leave many AT&T and Verizon subscribers with lesser 5G service.
Cox defended the FAA’s caution: “Just to categorically say, ‘Oh, it’ll be okay, we think,’ that is not consistent with the way we’ve conducted aviation safety.”
The FAA directive does invite airlines to certify that they’ve tested their equipment against C-Band interference, although Mann noted that replacing susceptible altimeters would demand extra testing and certification: “It’s more than just plugging in a new radio altimeter.”
Feld, however, said airline self-certification represents the most likely solution because airlines will take the heat for flight interruptions.
“If people’s flights are delayed, they’re not going to blame Verizon and AT&T,” he said. “They’re going to blame Southwest Airlines and Delta.”
Rob Pegoraro is a tech writer based out of Washington, D.C. To submit a tech question, email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com. Follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.
Telecommunications services disrupted in Kogi State have resumed following a resolution of the dispute between MTN Nigeria and the state government, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has said.
Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of ALTON, told TVC News that the issues that led to the shutdown of telecom masts in the state, primarily affecting MTN, had been addressed, paving the way for service restoration.
TVC News earlier reported that businessmen and women were counting their losses as they suffered the impact of a shut down of telecommunication service in Kogi State
Over the past two weeks, telecoms connectivity had been erratic, with competing brands experiencing glitches, particularly in the Lokoja metropolis.
The State government suspended the operations of some telecom services citing unpaid taxes and fibre-related dues.
The shutdown stemmed from a compliance dispute between MTN and the Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency, which accused the telecom giant of violating operational rules and under-declaring the extent of its optic fibre network coverage in the state.
The protracted Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt misunderstanding between the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and telecommunications operators appears to have been resolved.
This was confirmed by the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, Thursday, March 1, when he appeared on Arise TV to speak on the firm’s first-quarter 2025 result, where the telecommunications company reported over N1 trillion in revenue earnings.
Recall that the USSD debt had been a major issue between the DMBs and telcos and had lasted for about five years.
In the third quarter of 2024, the telcos had threatened to withdraw their service over the lingering debt, which was around N200 billion at the time. This led to the swift intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and an agreement was reached on payment.
As of November 2024, the NCC put the debt at N160 billion. However, earlier this year, when it appeared the banks were not forthcoming with payments, the NCC directed the telcos to withdraw the USSD services from debt-owning DMBs, where about 18 banks were listed.
This directive prompted the banks to look inward and start to comply with an earlier circular signed by the CBN and NCC, which articulated the payment patterns for the debt.
Speaking, on Arise TV this morning, May 1, Toriola confirmed that the matter has been fully resolved and that banks have made payments.
“I can confirm that the matter has been fully resolved. We have received payments in full. Special thanks to the CBN, NCC, the banks, and other stakeholders that intervened in the matter,” the MTN CEO stated.
Sterling Bank, Leading commercial bank and Africa’s most agile company has announced the introduction of AlwaysOn by Sterling, a bold new feature on its OneBank platform that will give eligible customers up to ₦1 million extra every month -even when their account balances are running low.
Launched on Workers’ Day 2025, the initiative is part of an ongoing movement to remove structural barriers to financial freedom and empower everyday Nigerians to move boldly, even in uncertain times.
AlwaysOn is a specialised, invitation-only feature for customers who maintain an active OneBank account for a while. It provides an advance to settle bills or make payments without delays, or any of the friction associated with traditional credit systems.
“This is not just about funds,” said Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank. “It’s about freedom and dignity. It’s about backing our customers with the trust and tools to act boldly when life demands it.”
Suleiman emphasised that the new feature is not a product, it’s a logical shift in how the bank supports its customers.
“We’re building a financial ecosystem designed for momentum -for people with grit, urgency, and dreams too big to wait. If you’ve banked with us, you’ve earned our confidence. Now you’ll have our backing to match,” added Suleiman.
The introduction of AlwaysOn marks the next chapter in Sterling’s growing movement to create a fairer and more responsive financial system. It follows the Zero Transfer Fees initiative in April, which returned an estimated ₦13 billion to Nigerians by eliminating transfer charges across the OneBank platform. It also builds on Sterling’s Free Bus Ride initiative, which helped commuters get home from work for free during a time of intense economic pressure.
Together, these efforts reflect the bank’s bold, people-first approach to customer impact, now made possible by its adoption of SeaBaas, Nigeria’s first indigenous core banking platform.
“We’re not the kind of bank that stands on the sidelines while Nigerians hustle,” said Obinna Ukachukwu, Growth Executive for Retail and Consumer Banking. “We removed the fees that slowed them down. Now we’re giving Nigerians the financial freedom to seize opportunity when it shows up. We’re on the pitch with them.”
Sterling’s actions have sparked widespread public support and national recognition as they have continued to push the boundaries of what corporate citizenship can mean to everyday Nigerians.
Notable icons from various fields have canvassed their support and praised the bank’s stance in redefining financial services, inspiring other institutions to follow suit.
Nigerians are encouraged to apply to join the waitlist for the scheme when it goes live in later this month and ultimately, eligibility for up to N1M extra in relief advances.
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