Airlines Work To Add Equipment To Minimize 5G Challenges

Filters and other enhancements will ease concerns while airlines and wireless providers continue to work together.

Meg Godlewski

Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 05:47 AM ET

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In January, wireless carriers began broadcasting in the 5G C-band to improve network speed. [File photo: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

The FAA and telecommunications industry have identified a solution for 5G C-band and aviation to safely coexist, addressing interference with aircraft radio altimeters.
Airlines are required to install filters or other enhancements on affected radio altimeters, with the goal for most installations to be completed by July 2023.
This retrofit program will allow wireless companies to operate their 5G networks in urban areas with minimal restrictions, while also continuing some voluntary mitigations for another year.

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For the past six months, the FAA and the telecommunications industry have worked to fully activate 5G C-band service while simultaneously protecting commercial air travel around the nation’s busiest airports. Their primary aim: to find a solution to eliminate interference caused by 5G signals to the altimeters aboard airliners, which would constitute a safety hazard in low visibility situations.

Billy Nolen, the FAA’s acting administrator, believes all that hard work is now paying off.