The GSMA is concerned about upcoming European legislation on communication between cars. The Commission may ring fence its ‘own’ technology for deploying C-ITS in Europe. Such a decision would harm investments in 5G networks across Europe.
On 11 July, the GSMA organised a dinner on Connected Cars in Brussels, to inform around 70 stakeholders on the latest development on “Cellular V2X technology. Speakers included Jovan Zagajac from Ford/5GAA, Emmanuel Routier from Orange, Uwe Puetzschler from Nokia, Eddy Hartog from DG Connect, European Commission and GSMA’s Andy Hudson.
The dinner was well timed because the Commission will take a decision this summer on technology to make vehicles talk to each other – and to public infrastructure.
In 2019, the European Union intends to start rolling out cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) across the continent in order to make transport much safer. A thorny issue though is which standard for short-range communication between cars should prevail: the one using mobile technology (CV2X) or the Wi-Fi standard (802.11p)? Or is it possible for both technologies to coexist?
The CV2X technology will be commercially available later this year and is quickly gaining traction with vehicle manufacturers and governments across the world. In China the technology will be even mandated. However, in Europe, the situation is different, with Member States and vehicle manufacturers split over the best road ahead.
Andy Hudson, head of Public Policy at the GSMA, stated that the EU needs to remain technology neutral when it comes to rolling out C-ITS. “Any preference for the WiFi standard 802.11p will harm 5G investments in Europe. We see that the Commission is about to handle completely contrary to the spirit of the 5G Action Plan.”
Industry association 5GAA also warned the European Commission against locking in a single technology to connected cars. “This places Europe at an economic disadvantage compared with other regions of the world including China and the United States, where CV2X is emerging as a strong technology candidate for C-ITS.”
Presentations:
- Technology neutrality is paramount for best supporting C-ITS/connected car-autonomous vehicle promise by Emmanuel Routier, Vice President Verticals, IoT at Orange Business Services
- The path from 4G to 5G by Uwe Puetzschler, Head of Car2x at Nokia
For more information about CV2X visit www.gsma.com/iot/automotive/