GSMA blasts EC over connected car tech choice

The battle for the soul of the European connected car industry has come down to G5 vs 5G and the European Commission has just picked a winner.

Today the EC adopted new rules around connected an automated mobility on EU roads that amounted to an endorsement of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS). On the surface this would appear to be quite a generic thing, but it seems to refer specifically to a set of technologies supported by ETSI, which include the ITS-G5 short-range wireless communications standard that uses 802.11p wifi rather than cellular.

“This decision gives vehicle manufacturers, road operators and others the long-awaited legal certainty needed to start large-scale deployment of C-ITS services across Europe, while remaining open to new technology and market developments,” said the European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport, Violeta Bulc. “It will significantly contribute to us achieving our ambitions on road safety and is an important stepping stone towards connected and automated mobility.”

Mobile trade association the GSMA isn’t so sure, however. In fact it reckons Europe is seriously missing a trick by going for this tech over cellular-based C-V2X, as you might expect. Not only that, but the GSMA reckons that by picking the wrong winner for connected vehicle tech, the EC is setting back the development of 5G on the whole.

“This piece of legislation relies on a biased view of technology and impedes innovation,” said Afke Schaart, VP & Head of Europe of the GSMA. “If the EU stays on this road, it will isolate itself further in the global 5G race and severely harm 5G investment in Europe.” Strong words Afke and we’re not sure accusing the EC of being biased is the best way to win it around, but you’re the lobbying expert so go for it.

The arcane matter of G5 vs 5G is a bit above our pay grade here at Telecoms.com, but a spot of light Googling reveals plenty of boffins have given it some thought. A couple of years ago this paper seemed to conclude the tech itself isn’t that important, but more recently NXP decided C-V2X is still a bit rubbish. It remains to be seen how binding this EC choice will be for the European automotive industry, but as the UK is continually reminded, the EU is not a big fan of challenges to its authority.