The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is pushing the FCC to allow equipment manufacturers to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology immediately in the upper 30 MHz (5.895–5.925 GHz) portion of the 5.9 GHz band. The Commission would need to grant a waiver of its rules governing intelligent transportation system (ITS) operations for that to happen. In a joint request, automakers, states and OEMs sought the waiver to test collision avoidance systems.
In 2021, the agency voted to reallocate a portion of the band from car-to-car and car-to infrastructure communication (V2X) to unlicensed WiFi, Inside Towers reported.
But the Commission didn’t allocate the entire 5.850–5.925 GHz (5.9 GHz) band. 30 MHz remains for intelligent transportation systems. The NTSB says the FCC should grant automakers a waiver to begin deploying V2X and C-V2X safety systems.
When it voted to make the change, then Chairman Ajit Pai said the band was underused, and V2X didn’t live up to its promise, Inside Towers reported. Several stakeholders went to court to stay the final FCC rule. Last month, a federal circuit court denied the petition, Inside Towers reported.
The NTSB notes that in 2021, when the FCC decreased the size of the ITS communication spectrum, it allowed “potentially harmful interference from unlicensed devices, such as those that use WiFi.” That action, according to the NTSB, jeopardizes the future deployment of connected vehicle technology.
To better understand the impact of that change, the NTSB spoke with stakeholders impacted by the change from government, industry and academia about the safety benefits and maturity level of V2X technology and the reasons for its delayed deployment. They identified hurdles preventing broad deployment of V2X: “sufficiency of spectrum for advanced V2X applications, potential for harmful interference from unlicensed devices, and regulatory uncertainty.”
The country faces a “crisis” on the roadways, according to the NTSB. It estimates that nearly 50,000 people died on the road in 2021. “Last year represented the greatest number of lives lost since 2005 and the greatest annual percentage increase in fatalities ever recorded by NHTSA,” the NTSB told the FCC in public comments concerning the waiver petition.
“Connected vehicle technology would significantly reduce roadway fatalities, but it must be deployed as soon as possible,” says the NTSB. It also urged the agency to ensure the remaining spectrum is free from harmful interference so that V2X communications are protected.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
Reader Interactions