US airlines get one year to fix altimeters for 5G disruption – IT Pro – News


The American aviation regulator FAA has proposed February 1, 2024 as a deadline for airways to regulate the altimeters of a sure variety of plane in order that there can now not be any interference with C-Band 5G frequencies.

In accordance with the brand new rule, airways should present their passenger and cargo plane with new altimeters or filters by 1 February subsequent yr. The Federal Aviation Administration writes that an estimated 180 plane want fully new altimeters and that there are 820 plane that want filters. The entire price could be $26 million. There are 7993 plane registered within the US register, so it isn’t a really massive half.

Altimeters work by aiming a sign on the floor and measuring how lengthy it takes for the sign to return. It considerations the 5G frequencies from 3.7 to three.98 GHz. That is near the frequency band utilized by plane altimeters, which is from 4.2GHz to 4.4GHz. The FAA subsequently banned using touchdown programs in areas the place the 5G frequencies can disrupt these programs on the finish of 2021 and at first of final yr the introduction of three.7GHz-5G postponed. These programs are usually solely used in periods of low visibility; plane are subsequently not allowed to land beneath this measure if visibility is poor and three.7GHz-5G is lively.

This drawback doesn’t happen in Europe, as a result of different frequencies are used right here, particularly from 3.4 to three.8 GHz. One other issue is that the capability of the modules for 5G is decrease right here, which additionally contributes to decreasing the danger of disruptions. Earlier, the distribution of C-Band-5G was additionally postponed within the Netherlands, as a result of satellite tv for pc communication firm Inmarsat makes use of the frequency band right here. On the finish of final yr, the Dutch authorities made it clear that the three.5 GHz frequencies for 5G are anticipated for use after the summer season of this yr. might be auctioned.