Auto Industry's New 5.9 GHz Offer Doesn't Impress FCC's O'Rielly

The auto industry tried a new way to preserve 5.9 GHz for safety. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said it reached a “landmark consensus” on how the band could be used by vehicle-to-everything, cellular V2X and dedicated short-range communications systems. But industry and FCC officials said the plan from the main auto industry association likely won’t get much traction at the agency. Commissioners agreed 5-0 in December to examine revised rules, reallocating 45 MHz for Wi-Fi, with 20 reserved for C-V2X and possibly 10 MHz for DSRC. “Advocates for this proposal far underestimate the resolve of this commission to reallocate a good portion of 5.9 GHz for unlicensed services,” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly told us Tuesday: “They also suffer from 20 years of empty promises and missed opportunities. A significant and appropriate compromise is already on the table, which splits the band and reserves a portion for C-V2X and potentially for residual DSRC. The FCC will hopefully go to order on Chairman [Ajit] Pai’s proposal later this summer.” The alliance’s plan is the latest example of why it's critical the FCC “preserve the entire 5.9 GHz band for transportation safety critical technologies,” ITS America said. “We cannot wait another 20 years to put these unused airwaves to work and it's concerning that some are continuing to drag their feet,” a WifiForward spokesperson emailed. The proposal is being filed at the FCC and sent to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the alliance said. “The industry now has a firm plan for how the entire band will be used.” C-V2X would have exclusive use in the band’s upper 20 MHz, DSRC the lower 20 and the remaining 30 would be made available “on a priority basis” to next-generation DSRC and advanced C-V2X, said an alliance news release. “After five years, a single technology will be selected to use the 5.9 GHz band.” Over 10 years, technology that doesn’t prevail would be phased out, the group said.