Here we go again. Every few years as the wireless world upgrades to the next generation of service, warning bells go off and gets everyone worried about one thing or another. This happened as we upgraded to 3G and then several years later to 4G. Now as we are upgrading to 5G it’s happening all over again. So, is there really something to be concerned about or is this just another false alarm?
This time, the FAA has issued a warning about how 5G wireless may impact safety in the airline industry. In response, Verizon and AT&T are pausing their 5G rollout in certain areas while this question is being studied.
If we pull the camera back, we remember when we turned 3G on, then years later when we turned 4G on, other warnings were issued. So, it seems issuing one kind of warning or anther seems to be typical as we move to the next generation of wireless.
With the previous warnings, years have passed and none of the problems we were warned about ever became reality. If they had, we would have heard about them in the news media on a regular basis.
The fact is, we’ve been down this road before, several times in fact, and no real problem ever became a reality. In the early years, I was concerned. However, since there were no real problems, today I no longer over-react.
Is FAA 5G warning an Aesop’s fable, The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf
That being said, if there is a real threat this time around, we do want to know about it.
That’s the problem. This 5G story is like like the old Aesop’s Fable, The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf. We get so many warnings from so many places about so many things, we get numb and don’t pay attention any longer.
That’s what all this over reaction has done to us as a society.
So, is there really a risk with 5G and airlines? Who knows? If there is, how significant is this risk? And what, if anything, can and should we do about it?
Verizon and AT&T pausing 5G rollout because of airline risk
Good questions. The only problem is, today no one is listening.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility are taking the potential warning seriously enough to temporarily stop the buildout of their 5G networks in certain areas that may impact airlines.
I am told this will last until mid-January when we hope to come to a conclusion. The only problem is, we can’t ever reach a conclusion on anything.
My first reaction is simple… here we go again. We’ve been down this road time and time again with 3G, 4G and now 5G. We should realize these kinds of warnings are becoming part of the process. So, if that’s the case we should expect it with 6G and beyond.
My second reaction is, if there is a real problem here, we don’t want to ignore it because we’ve become numb to the process.
That being said, let’s let the investigation go on and wait for the conclusion. Then we will have a much better idea how to judge the threat.
What’s your guess? Is this a real problem or just more noise?
My guess is when we get to the end of this investigation in the middle of January, there will be no real answer. That means both sides will continue to battle this issue forever.
That’s the wonderful world of wireless! Now, we sit and wait.
