High Bands Suitable for Better 5G on Aircraft, Says Qualcomm

The 70/80/90 GHz bands are well suited to 5G communications to aircraft using ground stations spaced across rural regions, Qualcomm officials said in a call with FCC Wireless Bureau staff. “Highly focused, three-dimensional communications beams between ground stations and aircraft at elevation angles above 3 degrees will avoid interfering with current and future co-primary terrestrial fixed services and future mobile terrestrial services that transmit at much lower elevation angles,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 20-133: “Real time coordination techniques can address rare cases of interfering geometries.”