Skip to content
Technology

US Sets 2024 Deadline for 5G Signal Safeguards on Aircraft

  • Interference could lead to ‘catastrophic incident,’ FAA says
  • Cost to comply with proposal estimated at up to $26 million
A contractor installs 5G equipment on a light pole near Los Angeles International Airport in California, on Jan. 19, 2022. 

A contractor installs 5G equipment on a light pole near Los Angeles International Airport in California, on Jan. 19, 2022. 

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images

Updated on

US aviation safety regulators intend to require passenger and cargo aircraft to meet requirements by early next year for navigation gear to deal with potentially unsafe interference from 5G mobile-phone signals.

The equipment is needed because the newer wireless signals are on frequencies near those used by planes’ radio altimeters, which determine altitude over ground and can cause them to malfunction, the Federal Aviation Administration has found. Wireless companies are eager for a solution because they paid the government more than $80 billion for the new airwaves. The changes would need to be made by Feb. 1, 2024, the agency said in a notice Monday.