本文選自經(jīng)濟學(xué)人，和學(xué)長一起來了解5G對美國航空公司的影響。

學(xué)長建議

1. 在語境中學(xué)習(xí)表達用法；

2. 著重把握學(xué)長標(biāo)注的內(nèi)容；

3. 帶著問題去閱讀文章。

Why do American airlines say 5G networks will ground their planes?

They claim the technology will interfere with instruments in some aircraft. Regulators are in a muddle.

他們聲稱該技術(shù)會干擾一些飛機上的儀器。監(jiān)管機構(gòu)陷入困境

AIRLINE PASSENGERS are familiar with being asked to turn off their phones before take-off. Now, in America at least, the airlines want mobile-phone companies not to turn on their networks in the first place. On January 17th the bosses of several American airlines warned of a “catastrophic” crisis unless the mobile firms delay switching on parts of their shiny new 5G networks which they plan to do on January 19th. Large numbers of aircraft could be rendered unusable, claimed the heads of Delta, United, Southwest and others. “The vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded,” they wrote in a letter to the White House and America’s communications and air-travel regulators. Are they right? And how might 5G networks play havoc with planes?

航空公司的乘客很熟悉在起飛前被要求關(guān)閉他們的手機。現(xiàn)在，至少在美國，航空公司希望移動電話公司首先不要打開他們的網(wǎng)絡(luò)。1 月 17 日，幾家美國航空公司的老板警告說，除非移動公司推遲開啟其閃亮的新 5G 網(wǎng)絡(luò)的部分功能，否則將出現(xiàn) "災(zāi)難性 "危機，他們計劃在 1 月 19 日這樣做。達美航空、美聯(lián)航、西南航空和其他航空公司的負責(zé)人聲稱，大量的飛機可能無法使用。他們在給白宮和美國的通信和航空旅行監(jiān)管機構(gòu)的信中寫道："絕大多數(shù)的旅行和航運公眾基本上都會被禁止"。他們說得對嗎？5G 網(wǎng)絡(luò)又會對飛機造成怎樣的破壞？

The airlines are worried about supposed interference between 5G transmitters near airports and radar altimeters, instruments on planes that use radio waves to determine an aircraft’s altitude. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates commercial use of the radio spectrum in America, studied the question in 2020 and concluded the two systems could work together. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is responsible for air travel, disagreed, and said that flying could be unsafe. After months of arguments the two agencies hammered out a compromise this month, in which mobile networks would implement “exclusion zones” around certain airports while more studies were carried out. The airlines’ last-minute announcement suggests that deal is now off, though on January 18th Verizon and AT&T, two telecoms companies, agreed to pause turning on some wireless towers. On the same day several international airlines—including Air India, Emirates, and Air Japan—cancelled flights to several American cities, citing concerns about 5G.

航空公司擔(dān)心機場附近的 5G 發(fā)射器與雷達高度計之間的所謂干擾，雷達高度計是飛機上使用無線電波來確定飛機高度的儀器。聯(lián)邦通信委員會（FCC）負責(zé)監(jiān)管美國無線電頻譜的商業(yè)使用，在 2020 年研究了這個問題，并認(rèn)為這兩個系統(tǒng)可以一起工作。負責(zé)航空旅行的聯(lián)邦航空管理局（FAA）不同意，并說飛行可能是不安全的。經(jīng)過幾個月的爭論，這兩個機構(gòu)本月達成了一項妥協(xié)，即移動網(wǎng)絡(luò)將在某些機場周圍實施 "禁區(qū)"，同時進行更多的研究。航空公司在最后一刻宣布的消息表明，該協(xié)議現(xiàn)已取消，盡管在 1 月 18 日，Verizon 和 AT&T 兩家電信公司同意暫停打開一些無線塔。同一天，幾家國際航空公司，包括印度航空、阿聯(lián)酋航空和日本航空，取消了飛往美國幾個城市的航班，他們的理由是對 5G 的擔(dān)憂。

Most experts sympathise with the FCC. Similar 5G networks have been deployed in dozens of other countries, and the FAA admitted in November that there had been no reports of problems. It is hard to see how comparatively low-power 5G networks could cause problems when, for instance, much more potent military search radars do not. And there is a sizeable gap on the radio-frequency spectrum between the 5G networks in question, which operate between 3.7 and 3.98Ghz, and the altimeters, which use frequencies between 4.2 and 4.4Ghz. One possible explanation comes from the fact that airlines are not threatening that all planes will be grounded—only some. Some commentators speculate that the aircraft at risk may have older, poorer-quality altimeters that are more susceptible to interference. The FAA has conceded that the cost of replacing such altimeters would be “substantial”. Battered by covid-19, airlines may be unwilling to pay.

大多數(shù)專家對 FCC 表示同情。類似的 5G 網(wǎng)絡(luò)已經(jīng)在其他幾十個國家部署，美國聯(lián)邦航空局在 11 月承認(rèn)，沒有關(guān)于問題的報告。很難說相對較低的 5G 網(wǎng)絡(luò)會造成問題，例如，更強大的軍用搜索雷達就不會造成問題。而且，在 3.7 至 3.98Ghz 的 5G 網(wǎng)絡(luò)和使用 4.2 至 4.4Ghz 頻率的測高儀之間，存在著相當(dāng)大的無線電頻譜差距。一個可能的解釋來自于這樣一個事實，即航空公司沒有威脅說所有的飛機都會被停飛--只有一些。一些評論家推測，面臨風(fēng)險的飛機可能有較舊的、質(zhì)量較差的高度計，更容易受到干擾。美國聯(lián)邦航空局承認(rèn)，更換這種高度計的費用將是 "相當(dāng)大的"。受到 covid-19 的打擊，航空公司可能不愿意支付。

Whatever the truth, it is rare to solve technical questions like this by publicly threatening to disable entire industries. Political intervention is likely to be needed to break the logjam. None of this is a good advertisement for America’s regulators. And it is unlikely to be the last such problem either. The radio-frequency spectrum is limited and already crowded, and demand for it is growing. Two years ago the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration complained that 5G deployments using a different part of the spectrum, around 24Ghz, might interfere with weather radars. Keeping everyone happy is only going to get harder.

無論真相如何，通過公開威脅讓整個行業(yè)癱瘓來解決這樣的技術(shù)問題是很罕見的?？赡苄枰胃深A(yù)來打破這一僵局。這對美國的監(jiān)管機構(gòu)來說都不是一個好廣告。而且這也不可能是最后一個這樣的問題。無線電頻譜是有限的，而且已經(jīng)很擁擠，對它的需求正在增長。兩年前，美國國家海洋和大氣管理局抱怨說，使用 24Ghz 左右的另一部分頻譜的 5G 部署，可能會干擾氣象雷達。讓所有人都滿意只會越來越難。