DoD, Tech Companies Partnering “to mitigate potential military radar interference with 5G networks”

By B.N. Frank

American opposition to 5G deployment has been ongoing for years due to various significant issues associated with it including aviation equipment interference risks (see 1, 2, 3). Last month interference issues were reported by telecom providers as well. Additionally, the Department of Defense (DoD) has been trying to resolve its own potential equipment interference issues.

From RCR Wireless:

Nokia, Hill AFB expand 5G radar interference testing with O-RAN

Peter Cohen

With Phase 1 successfully completed, the initial Dynamic Spectrum Sharing testbed expands with Nokia’s Service Enablement Platform and RIC

Nokia announced an extension of its previously announced partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to mitigate potential military radar interference with 5G networks. Hill Air Force Base is the location of the testing, near Ogden Utah. The DoD and Nokia kicked off the testing in late 2021 and Phase 1 of the project has been successfully completed, said Nokia.

The ultimate goal of the project is to make sure 5G networks and active radar systems used by the military can coexist in shared spectrum. Nokia’s partnership with the DoD is one of a dozen different relationships the DoD is managing in three different segments: 5G testbed, 5G applications, and 5G network enhancements. The 39-month program’s goal is to develop a variety of spectrum coexistence system (SCS) solutions.

“The project is part of a wider initiative by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) to create its first tranche of 5G wireless testbeds,” said the company in a statement.

This next phase of the testing sees Nokia deploying its Service Enablement Platform, combining a RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) capabilities. The company said that the test system employs an O-RAN interface developed by the O-RAN Alliance to expose radar interference detection and mitigation capabilities.

At the time of the initial announcement, Deb Stanislawski, director of OUSD (R&E) 5G tranche prototyping and experimentation, said the experiments with Nokia and others were designed to rally the DoD and vendors to develop a collaborative 5G approach. She explained the problem thy were trying to solve.

“Electromagnetic spectrum is a highly scarce resource relative to demand and U.S. commercial operators lag in access to highly desired mid-band, or 3-4 GHz. We must figure out how to share this band if we are to unleash a new wave of network innovation and break the global dependency on compromised 5G networks sold by state-subsidized, antagonistic peer competitors,” she said.

The DoD testing is part of a long-term effort to avoid similar issues with military aircraft the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been wrangling with on the civilian side. Verizon and AT&T delayed their initial 5G C-Band turn-up after the FAA and the aviation industry expressed concern that 5G C-band deployment may affect the accuracy of radio altimeters on civilian aircraft.

In late June, U.S. regulators, Communication Service Providers (CSPs) and aviation industry representatives agreed to a phased-in approach which will see aircraft most susceptible to possible problems refit mostly by the end of 2022. AT&T and Verizon will maintain voluntary mitigations while air carriers upgrade their fleets. Operators of aircraft with affected radio altimeters “must install filters or other enhancements as soon as possible,” with filters and replacement units for mainline commercial fleets expected to be available on a timeline such that the work could be “largely completed by July 2023.”

Despite interference issues as well as additional known risks, the Federal Communications Commission (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) and other government and state agencies and committees (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) have continued to promote and fund 5G deployment and densification as well as that of 4G and public Wi-Fi (which also poses known risks). American businesses hospitals, and school districts (see 1, 2) continue to install 5G and other wireless infrastructure for “private networks” as well.

The FCC is supposed to protect Americans by regulating the telecom industry. This has NOT been happening (see 1, 2) which has led to several lawsuits filed against it. In 2021, a federal court ruled in favor of organizations and petitioners that sued the agency for NOT adequately protecting Americans from wireless radiation exposure from 5G and other sources of wireless. Also in 2019, telecom executives gave congressional testimony that they had NO independent scientific evidence that 5G is safe.

Opposition to 5G is worldwide which has limited, slowed, and/or stopped deployment in some locations (see 1, 2). Since 2017 doctors and scientists have asked for moratoriums on Earth and in space (see 1, 2) and the majority of scientists oppose deployment. Since 2018 there have been reports of people and animals experiencing symptoms and illnesses after it was activated (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ). Some researchers have suggested that 5G activation may be contributing to COVID-19 infections as well as hundreds of thousands if not millions of bird deaths. Of course, there are health risks associated with 4G and other sources of wireless Wi-Fi radiation (see 1, 2) and electromagnetic fields (aka “Electrosmog”) so that may be contributing to symptoms and illnesses as well.

Adding insult to injury, 5G service continues to receive terrible reviews (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Regardless, 5G doesn’t seem to be the end goal anyway – it’s 6G. Oh, the humanity (or lack thereof)!