FCC Likely to Stand Firm on Opening 5.9 GHz to Wi-Fi

The FCC seems unlikely to backtrack on last year’s 5-0 order splitting 5.9 GHz between Wi-Fi and auto safety (see 2011180043). Commissioner Brendan Carr considers this a key early test of the commission’s resolve to stick with controversial decisions (see 2105130064). Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg expressed concerns, similar to those in the last administration (see 2103250071).

Industry and other FCC officials noted that acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel worked with former Republican Commissioner Mike O’Rielly for years on 5.9 GHz before last year’s vote. “We’re moving forward with speed” on 5.9 GHz and other spectrum decisions, Rosenworcel said Thursday (see 2105200044). Wi-Fi advocates said if Rosenworcel was hesitant the order likely wouldn’t have been published in the Federal Register. An FCC spokesperson declined comment Friday.

“We’ve seen some points raised with the new administration about our 5.9 GHz decision,” Carr told reporters Thursday. “It would be a massive mistake to walk back the important decision that we made that preserves 5.9 spectrum for auto safety while also bringing it into the modern era.”

O’Rielly told us the FCC is unlikely to rethink the order. “I suspect, and have heard no inklings otherwise, that the commission has many other things to do rather than reopen that very successful and bipartisan item benefiting consumers and auto safety,” he said.

The auto industry continues seeking a redo (see 2104270090). “Any pressure felt by the FCC stems from the nearly 40,000 people who die on American roads each year, fatalities that [vehicle-to-everything] technologies could significantly reduce,” said ITS America President Shailen Bhatt. “The right thing to do is to preserve the full 75 MHz for safety-critical operations of the transportation system,” he said: “At a minimum, if the FCC continues in this misguided endeavor, it is critical that the remaining 30 MHz be meaningfully shielded from harmful interference.”

The 5.9 GHz order “accurately summed up that after more than 20 years, the original concept for [dedicated short-range communications] has not come to fruition,” said Wi-Fi Alliance Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Alex Roytblat. “The need for this spectrum has never been greater, particularly in underserved areas.”

After conflicts with other agencies during the Trump administration, “I hope that the new administration will seriously reconsider how to handle spectrum issues that touch multiple agencies,” said Jon Peha, Carnegie Mellon University professor of electrical engineering and public policy. “Spectrum for transportation is just one example of where that process broke down.”

“That the FCC issued special temporary authority grants to more than 100 WISPs demonstrate[s] how important 45 megahertz of this spectrum on an unlicensed basis is to keeping rural customers connected,” emailed Wireless ISP Association Vice President-Policy Louis Peraertz. “The Commission also did an outstanding job explaining why 30 megahertz of the band is sufficient for ensuring safety of life and property through the use of” C-V2X.

“It was a unanimous and well considered decision by the expert agency on spectrum allocation, and there is no reason for it to be reconsidered,” said Deborah Collier, Citizens Against Government Waste vice president-policy and government affairs. “Every aspect of automotive safety was reviewed and the final allocation not only provides sufficient opportunity for evolving automotive safety applications … but also comports with global use of the 5.9 GHz spectrum.”