5G Network Claimed To Disrupt Flights In The US, Minister Of Communication And Information: Safe In Indonesia!

Minister of Communications and Informatics Johnny G. Plate. (photo: Kemenkominfo)

JAKARTA - Following information on the implementation of the new 5G network in the United States (US) which was claimed to disrupt flight activities, the Minister of Communications and Information, Johnny G. Plate, emphasized that it does not apply in Indonesia, or is still relatively safe.

The temporary restriction on the installation of 5G networks in the US only uses the 3.7 GHz frequency band, in contrast to Indonesia, especially in the area around airports. However, Johnny stated that the Indonesian people need not worry about this.

"5G frequency regulation in Indonesia can be said to be relatively safe. This is due to the availability of a 600 MHz wide guard band that extends from 3.6 GHz to 4.2 GHz frequencies, in order to fortify the Radio Altimeter from 5G network signals," said Johnny at the conference. online press, Wednesday, January 19.

Johnny explained that the guard band was almost three times bigger than the one provided in the US. According to him, the conditions for setting 5G frequencies in the US are using the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz frequency band.

Meanwhile, Indonesia is in the range of 3.4 to 3.6 GHz, and that the frequency allocation for the Radio Altimeter that has been determined by the Radio Regulations ITU (International Telecommunication Union) is in the range of 4.2 to 4.4 GHz. Therefore, the use of frequency bands for 5G in Indonesia is relatively safe.

"The Ministry of Communication and Informatics needs to be present to provide explanations to the public so that information can be understood in the Indonesian context correctly. Because, in Indonesia, 5G services which are currently operating commercially by three national cellular operators, namely Telkomsel, Indosat, and XL, use two existing cellular frequency bands. namely the 1800 MHz and 2.3 GHz frequency bands," said Johnny.

Currently, the Ministry of Communication and Information, Johnny said, is doing farming and refarming the radio frequency spectrum so that the utilization of the radio frequency band is optimal.

The 5G network in Indonesia is set up for Low Band on the 700 MHz frequency band, Middle Band on the 3.5 GHz and 2.6 GHz frequency bands, and High Band on the 26 GHz and 28 GHz frequency bands.

"For new frequency bands that are in the process of farming and refarming in order to provide additional bandwidth and variety of use cases for 5G services, so that they are of higher quality and optimal for the community and business actors," said Johnny.

Johnny stated that in the case in the US, the radio frequency spectrum for 5G services was in the altimeter radio frequency band used for aviation purposes.

“The case that occurred in the US context is for 5G networks that work in the 3.7 GHz or 3,700 MHz frequency band to be precise in the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz range. The system that is feared to be disturbed is the Radio Altimeter system which works in the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz frequency band,” said Johnny.

The radio altimeter system is the main and important safety system in the operation of aircraft. This is to determine the altitude of the position of the aircraft flying above the ground.

"Information that is utilized from the use of a Radio Altimeter is very important in supporting flight operations related to flight safety or flight safety and navigation functions on all aircraft, such as terrain awareness, aircraft collision avoidance, wind shear detection, flight control, and other functions for can land the plane automatically,” explained Johnny.

For Indonesia, Johnny said there are no plans to only use the 3.7 GHz frequency band for the implementation of 5G. In this case, the Ministry of Communication and Information will continue to use the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz frequency band for satellite communication purposes, not for 5G.

"As for 5G, the plan is to utilize a lower frequency band, namely the 3.5 GHz frequency band which is in the 3.4 to 3.6 GHz range," said Johnny.

On the same occasion, Johnny explained that the potential for interference between 5G and Radio Altimeter has been and is being studied by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics by involving academics and working with the Ministry of Transportation.

"The Ministry of Communications and Informatics will always keep every communication that utilizes radio frequency spectrum resources free from interference or interference, especially the Radio Altimeter, a system that is closely related to flight safety and flight safety," said Johnny.