UPDATE Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg backed lawmakers’ concerns Thursday about the FCC’s November vote to reallocate 5.9 GHz for WiFi and cellular vehicle-to-everything. The band was traditionally reserved for auto safety tech like communications between emergency vehicles and traffic lights, but the agency reserved a portion for WiFi use and added flexibility to what types of safety tech could be used, Inside Towers reported.
House Infrastructure Committee Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR) previously raised the issue with the DoT. During a hearing Thursday, Politico reported Buttigieg told DeFazio, “We share that concern. We’re going to be engaging with counterparts across the administration on a way forward and trying to establish the best way to handle and share the spectrum that is consistent with not just safety communications as we know them but where they’re headed.”
Industry parties and lawmakers are still parrying over the FCC ruling. Several advocacy groups urged the Biden administration to let the decision stand rather than try to override it. The auto industry wants the 5.9 GHz band to continue to be reserved for auto safety testing.
During the vote, former FCC Chair Ajit Pai said the band was underused and allowing wireless to use a portion of it was more efficient. The vote among his colleagues was unanimous, though Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks only “concurred,” instead of wholeheartedly voting for passage. They cited DoT concerns as well as those from the Senate Commerce Committee’s top Democrat (and now chair) Maria Cantwell of Washington state.
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