Wi-Fi Advocates Say Debate Over Wi-Fi and DSRC Far From Settled
Public interest advocates fired back at ITS America, which argued Wednesday at CES in Las Vegas that the FCC should make changes to its full allocation in the 5.9 GHz band for anti-crash, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) systems (see 1701040044).…
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“Wi-Fi advocates have consistently argued that the best way to protect safety-related DSRC applications is to give safety exclusive channels at the top of the band,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America. “The rest of the band should be shared equally for commercial purposes, or even for safety-related but not time-critical uses. Sharing the band is a win-win for consumers, especially now that even safety-related DSRC is in doubt. The Trump administration may not agree to go ahead with [the Department of Transportation's] proposed mandate, as it will cost consumers $30 billion, take 15 to 20 years to implement, and be duplicative of other more general purpose 5G networks and autonomous vehicle technologies.” Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld said the debate in the incoming Trump administration over DSRC versus Wi-Fi “is still a long way from settled.”