House Infrastructure Members Urge FCC to Reconsider 5.9 GHz NPRM, Citing DOT Worries
House Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., ranking member Sam Graves, R-Mo., and 36 other committee members raised "substantial" concerns Wednesday about the FCC’s 5.9 GHz NPRM. The rulemaking (see 1912120058) proposes to reallocate the 5.9 GHz band for Wi-Fi…
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and cellular vehicle-to-everything, preserving some for dedicated short-range communications. Four House Communications Subcommittee members backed the proposal earlier this month (see 2001100066). The House Infrastructure members cited Transportation Department calls to preserve the band for DSRC (see 1909160018) in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The commission significantly changed the proposal in response to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and other DSRC advocates (see 1911200055). “We have made the adoption of technology in our transportation system a key priority and expect to take further steps in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization to encourage greater use of [intelligent transportation systems]," the House Infrastructure members wrote. "Removal of this dedicated spectrum would be counter to our national transportation policy goals, as affirmed by the DOT and the Congress" in the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. “For over 20 years, the vast majority of the 5.9 GHz band has sat unused, and it is therefore time to turn the page on the failed status quo,” an FCC spokesperson emailed. The NPRM “would improve automotive safety by allocating 20 MHz for C-V2X, a promising technology that currently does not have any spectrum available to it. The FCC is committed to transportation safety and is pursuing a balanced approach.” WifiForward said the 5.9 GHz band “is unused in the vast majority of the country the vast majority of the time and this is the best near-term opportunity to help with that crunch. The FCC has proposed a win-win; providing airwaves for wireless broadband and innovative automotive safety applications broad bipartisan and cross-industry support.”