The Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate in this week’s mid-term elections throws into doubt the prospect of the Obama administration making any progress on protecting the use of the 5.9GHz band for vehicle-to-vehicle communications, as requested by the ITS community and the Department of Transportation.  Republicans have strongly indicated their opposition to all things Obama, and with control of both houses of Congress in their hands V2V communications can be expected to take a back seat.

In letters to Republican and Democratic congressmen sent shortly before the election, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, indicated his intention to pursue the required testing of unlicensed use of the 5.9GHz band and diplomatically danced around the issue of enabling both uses – V2V and Wi-Fi – of the spectrum in question – a scenario opposed by the DOT.

“Starting with Chairman Genachowski, the Commission has prioritized the 5GHz rulemaking and focused significant resources on this proceeding in order to make this band available for shared, unlicensed use to the maximum extent possible.  Our March 31, 2014, Order revised our Part 15 rules to permit expanded unlicensed use of the 5GHz band, and we designated the very issues that you raise for further review and consideration.

“The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) specialized “Tiger Team” is actively reviewing two leading proposals submitted by the Wi-Fi industry to address interference issues within the upper 5GHz band.  Commission staff has encouraged and monitored the group’s progress.  At the same time, the Commission continues to work collaboratively with other federal stakeholders, including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to encourage the development of viable solutions to protect incumbent users from harmful interference, while maximizing the potential shared use of this spectrum.  We are hopeful that these efforts will lead to testing and analysis that will inform our decision-making process.

“The shared use of the 5GHz band is a highly complex undertaking, as evinced (sic) by the seven Petitions for Reconsideration of our initial Order, which we are also currently considering.  Nevertheless, we intend to continue to move as expeditiously as possible to achieve our goal of further expanding Wi-Fi use and spurring innovation and economic development.”

Ambiguous those these comments may seem, they are less than a ringing endorsement of the DOT’s preference for protected use of the spectrum.  The entire V2V proposition with the implications for infrastructure investments and mandated automotive hardware run counter to the core philosophy of the Republican Party.

To top things off, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) still lacks a permanent director and is fighting its way through heavy criticism and second guessing over the recent Takata and GM recalls.  NHTSA is in no position to pursue a V2V mandate against the headwinds of a lame duck President and a hostile Congress.

The mid-term elections brought unhappy tidings for the Democrats and President Obama.  It is time for the ITS community to take a soul-searching look at these same results and cook up a new approach to vehicle connectivity more suitable to the current political landscape.