FCC Chair Ajit Pai online Wednesday to discuss connectivity issues

Pai's views on the safety spectrum have roadway safety advocates concerned

Federal Communications Chair Ajit Pai will be the headline speaker at 11 a.m. Wednesday during a live event hosted by The Hill news outlet.

The event, “The Future of Human Connectivity,” is available to the public. People who sign up can also submit a question. People can also email questions to events@thehill.com.

Pai's session runs from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. E.T. and is entitled, “New Lines of Community: What Connectivity Means and What We Still Need.” Bob Cusack, The Hill’s editor-in-chief, will lead the conversation with Pai.

ATSSA is steadfastly opposed to the FCC’s plan to reallocate a portion of the 5.9 GHz band of spectrum known as the “safety spectrum,” to other uses out of concerns for safety and security.

As ATSSA previously reported, many organizations such as the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) have opposed the proposal.

In 1999, the FCC designated the 75 Megahertz (MHz) spectrum in the band for Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), which supports Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) technology, and a number of roadway safety infrastructure devices. Pai said at that point that he was “proposing to make available the lower 45 MHz” of the 5.9 GHz band “for unlicensed uses like Wi-Fi.”

In April, ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner sent letters to Pai and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao strongly endorsing the Alliance for Automotive Innovation’s letter committing to fully utilize the bands of spectrum allocated for transportation safety.