NEW YORK – The new 5G frequencies in the US start and the planes remain on the ground. Emirates has announced the suspension of the majority of flights to the United States due to the launch, scheduled for today, of the 5G system, the latest generation of mobile and cellular technology. All flights destined for the US have been suspended except for those involving three major airports: Los Angeles, Washington and the JFK in New York. Planes to Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Newark, Orlando, San Francisco and Seattle remain on the ground.
All passengers in possession of the ticket will not be boarded. The airline has not explained how long the flights will be suspended, but in fact all those scheduled until January 31 have been canceled. Meanwhile, other companies, such as Air India and the Japanese Ana and Japan Airlines, have canceled flights to the US.
The response that Emirates will give will depend on the evolution of the American response to the launch of the 5G system. But this decision, which involves one of the global transport giants, marks a sensational own goal for the United States, on the eve of the launch of the new technology. The risk, according to many companies, is that the installation of 5G could interfere with on-board systems.
The two big American telecommunications companies, AT&T and Verizon, tried to reassure, but it was not enough, also because in this case the criticisms did not come from consumer associations, but from the airlines themselves: the CEOs of Delta, American Airlines , United Airlines and seven other commercial and cargo flight brands, such as UPS and FedEx, had long asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to postpone the launch.
The risk, they said, is seeing thousands of flights canceled for safety reasons. What happened on time. High-speed internet uses so-called C-band frequencies, which are used by shipboard crews to measure altitude. The companies say the new technology could interfere with detections, putting flights at risk.
The federal aviation agency had given the green light, after receiving assurances from telecommunications companies, that they had promised to reduce the power of 5G transmitters in the vicinity of airports. Delta, American, and others are calling for the new technology to be activated outside a three-kilometer radius of America’s fifty largest airports.
Verizon and AT&T have decided to “postpone the activation of a limited number of towers around some airports” in an attempt to stop what is likely to be a “catastrophic” departure. President Biden thanked the two companies for the postponement.
Heralded as an epochal turning point, capable of “making more than ninety million Americans able to experience” super speed, 5G does not have the qualifications to “take off”. Instead of champagne, controversy and ferocious accusations.
“The federal agency and our airlines – commented Verizon – have not been able to solve the problem for the airports, although it has proved to be safe and fully operational in more than forty foreign countries”. The connection system is at risk, but it was not doing well before. More than thirty thousand flights have been canceled since Christmas, a personal cause knocked out by the pandemic.
“If the high-speed issue is not resolved in a clear way – the cargo companies have threatened – the whole delivery system and supply chain risk coming to a halt”. Feral news for Biden, already collapsing in the polls, while the shelves of many American supermarkets continue to appear semi-empty.
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