FCC Expected to Soon Take Hard Look at Future of 5.9 GHz Band

Last month, an NCTA-led coalition urged the FCC to take a fresh look at the 5.9 GHz band (see 1810160061). The agency has been looking at sharing the band between Wi-Fi and dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) since 2013 (see 1301160063). It's likely to examine a more technology-neutral approach, similar to the EU, officials said. The FCC declined to comment.

O’Rielly and Rosenworcel said at the October commissioners’ meeting that with the approval of a 6 GHz NPRM, the next step should be the 75 MHz of 5.9 GHz spectrum (see 1810230038). Pai declined to comment after the meeting, as did Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale at a recent FCBA lunch (see 1811140063). Some see Pai’s silence as surprising.

Without a DSRC mandate, the FCC would open the door to cellular-vehicle to everything (C-V2X) technology being promoted by Qualcomm, the new 5G Automotive Association and others (see 1804260040), industry officials said. The FCC likely will also examine whether to segment the band, reserving only part for DSRC, or move auto safety to another band.

“We agree with Commissioners O’Rielly and Rosenworcel that the right next step is a fresh-look FNPRM,” an NCTA spokesperson said. “The landscape has changed substantially. It’s time for the FCC to find a new path forward that recognizes these changes and brings this failed band into widespread use.”

“The FCC is facing very difficult questions, with various parties pulling it in conflicting directions, while trying to balance the vehicular safety jurisdiction of [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] with FCC jurisdiction over spectrum,” said Mary Brown, Cisco senior director-government affairs. Not only is intelligent transportation system spectrum “globally harmonized at 5.9 GHz, but the FCC is going to need to look at questions about stranded DSRC investment, present lack of technical interoperability with C-V2X and guard band requirements,” she said.

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance supports the push for unlicensed use of the 5.9 GHz band, said President Kalpak Gude. “Demands for unlicensed services continue to grow and this band is ideally suited to help ease the spectrum challenges. The technical and market changes that have occurred over the last few years makes this new review by the commission very well timed.”

The 5.9 band is “really the key band that we see that can be the most helpful for us as far as an unlicensed band,” said Colleen King, Charter Communications vice president-regulatory affairs, at a recent Information Technology and Innovation Foundation discussion (see 1811130055). “It can provide the spectrum we need to almost immediately allow increased use of our Wi-Fi.” The 5.9 GHz band was one of the last the FCC allocated for such a specific use, but “this band doesn’t seem to be working,” she said.

The FCC likely will seek an update to the record, “if not just move ahead with a relatively open-ended FNPRM,” said Doug Brake, ITIF director-broadband and spectrum policy. “Pai hasn’t been especially vocal on this band, but he has given O’Rielly a lot of authority to move the agenda on mid-band spectrum issues. This issue has just been hanging around for over five years now. It makes sense for the commission to give an answer on the spectrum sooner rather than later, especially with a potential new band plan in 6 GHz.”

Auto industry groups continue to urge the FCC to protect the 5.9 GHz band for DSRC. An ITS America spokesperson referred us to an October ex parte filing in docket 13-49, in which the group said DSRC is critical to cutting the 90 accident deaths the U.S. records daily.