FCC Chairman Ajit Pai used an announced deployment of Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) technology in Northern Virginia to put in a plug for his proposal for opening up a majority of spectrum in the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use while reserving most of the rest for C-V2X.
The entire band has been reserved for V2V.
Related: Ford Backs Pai's V2V Compromise
Audi, Qualcomm, and the Virginia Department of Transportation have teamed up to use a special FCC authorization to deploy technology that can alert cars to work zones and allow cars to receive countdowns to stoplight changes (say, an alert that there are five seconds until a light changes from red to green).
Pai has proposed freeing up the lower 45 MHz (of the 70 MHz in the band) exclusively for unlicensed, with the upper 30 MHz continuing to be reserved for V2V communications, including 20 for C-V2X, and possibly the other 10 as well.
Related: FCC Votes to Divide 5.9 GHz to Help Conquer 5G
“Today’s C-V2X deployment announcement was only made possible through an experimental license," Pai said in a statement. "That’s because the current rules governing the 5.9 GHz band lock us into DSRC, a technology authorized by the FCC more than twenty years ago that has never been widely deployed. The FCC recognizes the promise of C-V2X, having voted unanimously in December on a proposal to designate 20 megahertz for its deployment in the 5.9 GHz band. If this proposal is adopted, it would be a significant step forward for automotive safety, since there is currently no spectrum designated for C-V2X. Americans on the move would be the beneficiaries—but only if the FCC takes action and leaves the failed status quo behind.”
