iottechnews.com, Jul. 05, 2019 –
European nations voted against the EU's executive proposal for a WiFi-based connected car standard in favour of 5G technology.
The EU wants to use the WiFi-based Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) standard, which is also backed by Volkswagen. Most of the rest of the industry disagreed with this perspective.
Naturally, the mobile industry lobbied the most in favour of a 5G-based alternative known as Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X). A consortium of mobile industry bodies – including the GSMA, 5GAA, GSA, and ETNO – wrote last month to express their view that excluding 5G from Europe's connected vehicles would be a terrible idea.
Other backers for the 5G-based technology include Daimler, Ford, PSA Group, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Qualcomm, and Samsung.
A total of 21 countries – including those with large automotive industries like Germany, France, and Italy – voted against the EU's proposal to use C-ITS. The European Commission defended its stance on the grounds that WiFi is available today more widely than 5G.
To maintain the illusion of a democratic process, the EU has a tendency to make tweaks and put it back to a vote until it gets its own way. How the EU will be able to do so on this matter is difficult to imagine, so it could be a rare defeat for the unaccountable commissioners.
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