NGMN calls on EC to rethink connected car technology

An organisation representing telecoms network operators has warned European lawmakers that their vision for the development of cooperative ITS (C-ITS) risks being too narrow. In a letter to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the board of the NGMN Alliance highlights a key piece of EC legislation which will determine the technologies used for connected vehicles – and urges the inclusion of cellular-V2X (C-V2X) on the list. “Despite the EC’s stated commitment to technology neutrality, we
December 12, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
An organisation representing telecoms network operators has warned European lawmakers that their vision for the development of cooperative ITS (C-ITS) risks being too narrow.


In a letter to 1690 European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, the board of the NGMN Alliance highlights a key piece of EC legislation which will determine the technologies used for connected vehicles – and urges the inclusion of cellular-V2X (C-V2X) on the list.

“Despite the EC’s stated commitment to technology neutrality, we are very concerned about the progressing Delegated Act,” the NGMN letter says.

“At the current time, it rules out the most recent technology, C-V2X, favouring a specific and single-purpose Wi-Fi based technology path, ITS-G5, which has no relationship to 5G technology and no evolutionary path towards compatibility with future 5G based C-ITS systems generations.”

This will preclude “the evolution to 5G for connected cars”, it warns. “Limiting C-ITS deployment to ITS-G5 would imperil the European Union automotive industry’s ability to compete in today’s global and evolving technological marketplace. This places Europe at a technical and economic disadvantage compared with other regions of the world including China and the US, where C-V2X is emerging as a strong technology candidate for C-ITS.”

The NGMN board says that Delegated Act adoption “should not be rushed” and adds that C-V2X is not only able to enhance safety features for vehicles, but also supports use cases for vulnerable road users such as cyclists.

“NGMN has investigated and concluded that C-V2X technology is superior to 6781 IEEE 802.11p standards, technically, economically, and eco-system wise, and can well satisfy the basic safety applications,” the letter goes on.

The board believes its favoured technology has a better communication range, latency and scalability and “has a natural evolution path to future advanced applications by updating current networks to 5G”.

Related Content

  • October 10, 2016
    Marben’s V2X demo in Melbourne
    In close collaboration with NXP Semiconductors, Marben, a leading provider of vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure (V2X) software solutions, is showcasing major road safety and traffic optimisation applications. During the five days of the ITS World Congress, Marben is exhibiting live in-car demonstrations at the Albert Park Precinct. The demo presents Marben V2X applications integrated with the new NXP V2X Sharkfinsized reference design positioned on the car rooftop. The applications can ins
    Read More
  • August 18, 2021
    C-ITS in Europe: jazz or symphony?
    Communication between vehicles on the road is going to be increasingly important. Richard Lax of Kapsch TrafficCom explains why music is a good guide to the way that this could work safely
    Read More
  • September 8, 2016
    Melbourne launch for Autotalks’ Craton2 V2X solution
    Autotalks will use the ITS World Congress Melbourne to launch Craton2 which the company claims is the most advanced worldwide-compliant V2X solution available today. Designed to meet the rigorous requirements for sensor-fusion and autonomous vehicles, Craton2 offers the best in-class future-proof V2X cybersecurity protection. Its high level of integration is claimed to make it the most cost-optimised V2X solution.
    Read More
  • October 3, 2018
    Copenhagen: everything's gone green
    As the ITS World Congress arrives in Copenhagen, Adam Hill finds out how Dynniq has been helping traffic flow – and CO2 reduction - in the Danish capital. Most of the time, ‘breathing easier’ is just an expression which indicates a metaphorical sigh of relief that something has worked out alright. But it can be literally true, too. Respiratory and other potential health problems which stem from pollution in the world’s increasingly urbanised environments have been well publicised and governments are
    Read More

Highlighted Content