House Commerce Leaders To Meet With Federal Officials on Upper 5 GHz, Unlicensed Use
The House Commerce Committee leadership of both parties will begin “a series of meetings to explore the feasibility of expanding access to unlicensed spectrum for consumer use,” the committee said in a news release Monday. Committee leadership planned for meetings…
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with the FCC, NTIA and the Department of Transportation to talk about possible unlicensed spectrum use in the 5 GHz band. “We will examine the FCC and administration’s efforts to safely increase unlicensed access to the 5.9 GHz band without harming the existing work being done to improve auto safety through Intelligent Transportation Systems,” said Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in a joint statement. The automotive industry has resisted the idea of opening the band to unlicensed use, emphasizing the intelligent transportation technology use in this part of the spectrum. Thomas Kern, interim president of Intelligent Transportation Society of America, praised the lawmakers for “their thoughtful, collaborative approach to spectrum policy and for their efforts to increase unlicensed spectrum without putting life-saving connected vehicle technologies at risk,” he told us in a statement. Kern called both Wi-Fi and vehicle-to-vehicle communication “revolutionary innovations” and said the ITSA wants to “advance solutions to expand Wi-Fi while also accelerating the adoption of next-generation crash avoidance technologies on our nation's roads.” FCC Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mike O'Rielly issued a joint statement commending the news. The commissioners "enthusiastically support these efforts to facilitate allowing safe, unlicensed access to the 5.9 GHz band," they said. "More than a decade and a half after this spectrum was set aside for vehicle and roadside systems, we agree it is time to take a modern look at the possibilities for wireless services in these airwaves, to allow a broader range of uses. We believe by taking steps right now, we can support automobile safety, increase spectrum for Wi-Fi, and grow our wireless economy."