5.9 GHz Recon Petitions Get Support, Opposition

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI), Qualcomm and Ford backed a 5G Automotive Association petition for partial reconsideration of reallocating the 5.9 GHz band (see 2106030075), but Wi-Fi advocates opposed AAI and 5GAA recon petitions, in filings posted Thursday and Friday in docket 19-138. AAI agrees with 5GAA the FCC should revise its out-of-band emissions limit “to ensure that lifesaving [vehicle-to-everything] technology can function optimally, without the risk of harmful interference, in the upper 30-megahertz segment of the 5.9 GHz band,” it said: “The limit adopted in the Order fails to account for the difference in measured signal levels when using [root mean square] rather than peak power evaluations, is even more permissive than the limits proposed by unlicensed advocates, and threatens to imperil the functioning of critical V2X applications.” The limits “will harmfully interfere” with cellular-V2X and “are not needed to support robust and reliable … unlicensed services” in the band, Qualcomm commented. “Promptly approve the service rules for C-V2X proposed by 5GAA.” Ford agreed with 5GAA that “in multiple respects, the Order’s choice of unwanted emission limits fails to satisfy the Commission’s obligation under the Administrative Procedure Act to fully consider all the relevant facts and to articulate a reasoned explanation of how those facts support its decisions.” The alliance’s petition doesn't “warrant consideration,” the Wireless ISP Association countered. Rather than identifying “any material error or omission,” the group “relies on vague speculation about possible future actions by DOT” or by Congress,” WISPA said. The Wi-Fi Alliance opposed both recon petitions: The 5.9 GHz order “correctly recognizes that additional spectrum is necessary to not only meet, but to keep ahead of current connectivity demands, while also preserving spectrum access for intelligent transportation services.” NCTA and New America’s Open Technology Institute with Public Knowledge, opposed both petitions (see here and here).