# What’s up with airlines and 5g?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-airlines-and-5g/957991>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 18, 2022, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-airlines-and-5g/957991 "2022-01-18T12:50:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-up-with-airlines-and-5g/957991/13 "2022-01-18T20:57:16Z")

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> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> AIUI, other countries have installed 5G towers near airports with no ill effects. Are they just lucky, or is someone overreacting to a possible threat that doesn’t really exist? This issue should be scientifically provable, but the evidence apparently isn’t 100% convincing.

The US is using a 5G frequency band that is much closer to the radar altimeter band so there is a greater risk of interference.

From here:

> **[Will 5G mobile networks in the US really interfere with aircraft?](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2304975-will-5g-mobile-networks-in-the-us-really-interfere-with-aircraft/)**
>
> US telecoms companies plan to turn on 5G networks across the US, but airline bosses warn that potential interference with planes could cause a "catastrophic" crisis

> There is no single part of the electromagnetic spectrum that 5G occupies. Some countries are using 600 megahertz to 900 megahertz, which isn’t dissimilar to 4G. Some are placing it between 2.3 gigahertz and 4.7 gigahertz, which boosts data speed somewhat. And others are using 24 gigahertz to 47 gigahertz, which requires more towers but offers even higher data speeds. In many cases a network will use a mix of these. In the US, the frequencies allocated for 5G are closer to those used by aircraft than those allocated by the EU.
> 
> Radio altimeters operate in the 4.2 gigahertz to 4.4 gigahertz band, and the US has [set aside a portion of the spectrum right up to the lower band of that for 5G.](https://www.fcc.gov/5G) In Europe, the [comparable band ends at 4 gigahertz](https://5g.co.uk/guides/5g-frequencies-in-the-uk-what-you-need-to-know/).

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