FCC Expected to Approve 5.9 GHz Order, With Tweaks
Despite opposition from the Department of Transportation, ITS America and others, FCC members are expected to approve an order Wednesday that reallocates the 5.9 GHz band for sharing with Wi-Fi and vehicle-to-everything technologies. A few tweaks are expected. It's unclear how the FCC will address 5G Automotive Association and automaker complaints that they face delays deploying cellular V2X because of a transition of “indeterminate length” in the draft rules. Commissioners were waiting for a revised draft with final changes Tuesday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
“At a time when public safety is so paramount, it is disappointing that the FCC is disregarding the unanimous voices of transportation safety experts,” ITS America President Shailen Bhatt told us Tuesday. The FCC declined comment.
“I am hopeful that the commission will adjust the order to accelerate and provide greater certainty for the introduction of C-V2X,” Wilkinson Barker’s Sean Conway, who represents 5GAA, told us. “Transportation stakeholders are likely to applaud the commission if the order speeds the deployment of C-V2X,” Conway said: “Such a change would also resolve one more loose end that would otherwise pose a distraction for the next administration.”
The most important tweak is making sure the band can be readily used through software upgrades to plug-in routers and access points, plus technical changes by wireless ISPs, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. Calabrese noted the continuing push for reallocation by Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel. “Although it took over five years to overcome auto industry opposition, it could not be more timely, since many existing Wi-Fi routers and access points can be software upgraded for indoor use,” he said: “That will allow struggling families to distribute all of the bandwidth they receive from their cable or other fixed ISP to all of the devices and users in the household.”
5GAA and automakers asked the FCC last week (see 2011120022) to authorize deployment of C-V2X “safety services in the 5.9 GHz band as soon as possible.” Automakers “want to equip their vehicles with state-of-the-art C-V2X safety technology, and state and local transportation agencies are ready to deploy this technology along their roadways,” 5GAA said.
DOT asked the FCC to drop plans to reallocate the band. “Although FCC has adopted some minor modifications to its decision, it has not addressed any of DOT’s main objections,” DOT said in docket 19-138. “On the contrary, FCC has substituted its judgment for DOT’s on questions of transportation safety, and has declined the Department’s offers to collaborate more closely with other key stakeholders on a workable solution for the Safety Band.”
In the most recent filing in the docket, NCTA asked the FCC to stick with the draft order’s out-of-band emissions limits for indoor of 15 dBm/MHz at 5895 MHz, decreasing to -7 dBm/MHz at 5925 MHz.
Some groups opposing the change declined comment Tuesday. The FCC posted statements from members of Congress, companies and interest groups supporting the order in Tuesday’s Daily Digest.
It's unclear whether Chairman Ajit Pai will propose an aggressive or relatively short agenda for the December meeting, including a final order on the 6 GHz band. FCC officials said Pai may be inclined to push forward more items that can be done by the bureaus on delegated authority, comparable to the Lifeline minimum service standard for broadband the Wireline Bureau set Monday (see 2011170064), rather than seeking commissioner votes.
Lawyers at Perkins Coie predicted the next FCC will likely revise some of what the agency has done under Pai, while continuing his agenda in areas like spectrum for 5G. “New agency leadership may seek to revisit some of the more contentious actions … such as the repeal of net neutrality and overturning of broadband privacy,” said a Monday blog: “But President-elect [Joe] Biden has also spoken about a desire to unify the country, and several issues appear ripe for broad support, including the promotion of 5G spectrum and bridging the digital divide.”