The FCC announced it will vote on final rules that will improve transportation safety and mobility by integrating advanced communications technologies into vehicles and infrastructure. The rules would allow in-vehicle and roadside units to operate cellular-vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology in the 5.9 GHz spectrum dedicated to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).

 “The evolution of the 5.9 GHz band advances new car safety technologies in an efficient and effective way while also growing our wireless economy,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “This is sound spectrum management at work.”

 C-V2X technology provides direct communications between vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and other road users such as cyclists, pedestrians, and road workers to facilitate, among other things, non-line-of-sight awareness, notice of changing driving conditions, and automated driving.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel worked for nearly a decade in a bipartisan push to reconsider the best use of the 5.9 GHz band that had long been designated for automobile safety technology but had made little progress toward deployment. These efforts resulted in new rules for the automotive industry that move away from dated technology to the more advanced C-V2X automobile safety technology while also freeing up additional spectrum for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi.

The Report and Order circulated by the Chairwoman would, if adopted, promote efficient use of 30 megahertz of spectrum dedicated for ITS in the 5.9 GHz band as well as provide substantial safety benefits to the American public. It would codify C-V2X technical parameters in the Commission’s rules, including power and emission limits and message prioritization. The rules would provide flexibility for the auto industry to use three 10-megahertz channels either separately, in combination as a 20 megahertz channel or as a single 30-megahertz channel. The rules would also establish prioritization of safety-of-life communications. The rules would not require licensees already operating under C-V2X waivers to make changes to their currently deployed systems, and would provide a two-year timeline for sunsetting the use of existing Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC)-based technology.

 To permit the full benefits of connected vehicle technology to flourish, the rules would also optionally permit devices installed in vehicles to use geofencing techniques to allow C-V2X equipment to transmit at a higher power level when operating outside of protection zones around federal radiolocation sites.