Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

(a) Dedicated Short-Range Communications Service (DSRCS) systems are permitted to operate in the 5895-5925 MHz band.

(b) DSRCS authorizations granted prior to the July 2, 2021 may remain on existing frequencies in the 5850-5895 MHz band until July 5, 2022, at which time they may only operate in the 5895-5925 MHz band.

(c) Frequencies in the 5895-5925 MHz band will not be assigned for the exclusive use of any licensee; Channels are available on a shared basis only for use in accordance with the Commission's rules. All licensees shall cooperate in the selection and use of channels in order to reduce interference. This includes monitoring for communications in progress and any other measures as may be necessary to minimize interference.

(d) Licensees of Roadside Units (RSUs) suffering or causing harmful interference within a communications zone, as defined in § 90.375 of this part, are expected to cooperate and resolve this problem by mutually satisfactory arrangements. If the licensees are unable to do so, the Commission may impose restrictions including specifying the transmitter power, antenna height and direction, additional filtering, or area or hours of operation of the stations concerned. The use of any channel at a given geographical location may be denied when, in the judgment of the Commission, its use at that location is not in the public interest; use of any such channel may be restricted as to specified geographical areas, maximum power, or such other operating conditions, contained in this part or in the station authorization.

[86 FR 23297, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024. Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

(a) These provisions pertain to systems in the 5850-5925 MHz band for Dedicated Short-Range Communications Service (DSRCS). DSRCS systems use radio techniques to transfer data over short distances between roadside and mobile units, between mobile units, and between portable and mobile units to perform operations related to the improvement of traffic flow, traffic safety, and other intelligent transportation service applications in a variety of environments. DSRCS systems may also transmit status and instructional messages related to the units involved. DSRCS Roadside Units are authorized under this part. DSRCS On-Board Units are authorized under part 95 of this chapter.

(b) DSRCS Roadside Units (RSUs) operating in the band 5850-5925 MHz shall not receive protection from Government Radiolocation services in operation prior to the establishment of the DSRCS station. Operation of DSRCS RSU stations within the radius centered on the locations listed in the table below must be coordinated through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

(c) NTIA may authorize additional station assignments in the federal radiolocation service and may amend, modify, or revoke existing or additional assignments for such service. Once a federal assignment action is taken, the Commission's Universal Licensing System database will be updated accordingly and the list in paragraph (b) of this section will be updated as soon as practicable.

[64 FR 66410, Nov. 26, 1999, as amended at 69 FR 46443, Aug. 3, 2004; 86 FR 23297, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

(a) DSRCS licensees authorized pursuant to 90.370(b) must notify the Commission that as of the transition deadline of July 5, 2022, they have ceased operating in the 5.850-5.895 GHz portion of the band. This notification must be filed via ULS within 15 days of the expiration of the transition deadline.

(b) Continued operation in the 5.850-5.895 GHz portion of the band after the transition deadline, will result in automatic termination of that licensee's authorization without specific Commission action.

[86 FR 23297, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

The following entities are eligible to hold an authorization to operate Roadside units in the DSRCS:

(a) Any territory, possession, state, city, county, town or similar governmental entity.

(b) Any entity meeting the eligibility requirements of §§ 90.33 or 90.35.

[69 FR 46443, Aug. 3, 2004]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

(a) Roadside Units (RSUs) in the 5895-5925 MHz band are licensed on the basis of non-exclusive geographic areas. Governmental applicants will be issued a geographic area license based on the geo-political area encompassing the legal jurisdiction of the entity. All other applicants will be issued a geographic area license for their proposed area of operation based on county(s), state(s) or nationwide.

(b) Applicants who are approved in accordance with FCC Form 601 will be granted non-exclusive licenses for all non-reserved DSRCS frequencies (see § 90.377). Such licenses serve as a prerequisite of registering individual RSUs located within the licensed geographic area described in paragraph (a) of this section. Licensees must register each RSU in the Universal Licensing System (ULS) before operating such RSU. RSU registrations are subject, inter alia, to the requirements of § 1.923 of this chapter as applicable (antenna structure registration, environmental concerns, international coordination, and quiet zones). Additionally, RSUs at locations subject to NTIA coordination (see § 90.371(b)) may not begin operation until NTIA approval is received. Registrations are not effective until the Commission posts them on the ULS. It is the DSRCS licensee's responsibility to delete from the registration database any RSUs that have been discontinued.

(c) Licensees must operate each RSU in accordance with the Commission's rules and the registration data posted on the ULS for such RSU. Licensees must register each RSU for the smallest communication zone needed for the intelligent transportation systems application using one of the following four communication zones:

[69 FR 46444, Aug. 3, 2004, as amended at 82 FR 41548, Sept. 1, 2017; 86 FR 23298, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024. Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

(a) Licensees shall transmit only the power (EIRP) needed to communicate with an On-Board Unit (OBU) within the communications zone and must take steps to limit the Roadside Unit (RSU) signal within the zone to the maximum extent practicable.

(b) Frequencies available for assignment to eligible applicants within the 5850-5925 MHz band for RSUs and the maximum EIRP permitted for an RSU with an antenna height not exceeding 8 meters above the roadway bed surface are specified in the table below. Where two EIRP limits are given, the higher limit is permitted only for state or local governmental entities.

(c) Except as provided in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, non-reserve DSRCS channels are available on a shared basis only for use in accordance with the Commission's rules. All licensees shall cooperate in the selection and use of channels in order to reduce interference. This includes monitoring for communications in progress and any other measures as may be necessary to minimize interference. Licensees of RSUs suffering or causing harmful interference within a communications zone are expected to cooperate and resolve this problem by mutually satisfactory arrangements. If the licensees are unable to do so, the Commission may impose restrictions including specifying the transmitter power, antenna height and direction, additional filtering, or area or hours of operation of the stations concerned. Further the use of any channel at a given geographical location may be denied when, in the judgment of the Commission, its use at that location is not in the public interest; use of any such channel may be restricted as to specified geographical areas, maximum power, or such other operating conditions, contained in this part or in the station authorization.

(d) Safety/public safety priority. The following access priority governs all DSRCS operations:

(1) Communications involving the safety of life have access priority over all other DSRCS communications;

(2) Subject to a control channel priority system management strategy (see ASTM E2213-03 DSRC Standard at § 4.1.1.2(4)), DSRCS communications involving public safety have access priority over all other DSRC communications not listed in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. Roadside Units (RSUs) operated by state or local governmental entities are presumptively engaged in public safety priority communications.

(e) Non-priority communications. DSRCS communications not listed in paragraph (d) of this section, are non-priority communications. If a dispute arises concerning non-priority communications, the licensee of the later-registered RSU must accommodate the operation of the early registered RSU, i.e., interference protection rights are date-sensitive, based on the date that the RSU is first registered (see § 90.375) and the later-registered RSU must modify its operations to resolve the dispute in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in the ASTM-DSRC Standard (see § 90.379) for the purposes of paragraph (e) of this section, objectionable interference will be considered to exist when the Commission receives a complaint and the difference in signal strength between the earlier-registered RSU and the later-registered RSU (anywhere within the earlier-registered RSU's communication zone) is 18 dB or less (co-channel). Later-registered RSUs causing objectionable interference must correct the interference immediately unless written consent is obtained from the licensee of the earlier-registered RSU.

[71 FR 52749, Sept. 7, 2006, as amended at 72 FR 35199, June 27, 2007]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

DSRCS Roadside Units (RSUs) operating in the 5895-5925 MHz band must comply with the technical standard Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11p-2010 (incorporated by reference, see § 90.395).

[86 FR 23298, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

Until such time as agreements between the United States and Canada or the United States and Mexico, as applicable, become effective governing border area use of the 5895-5925 MHz band, authorizations to operate Roadside Units (RSUs) are granted subject to the following conditions:

(a) RSUs must not cause harmful interference to stations in Canada or Mexico that are licensed in accordance with the international table of frequency allocations for Region 2 (see § 2.106 of this chapter) and must accept any interference that may be caused by such stations.

(b) Authority to operate RSUs is subject to modifications and future agreements between the United States and Canada or the United States and Mexico, as applicable.

[69 FR 46445, Aug. 3, 2004, as amended at 86 FR 23298, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100854, Dec. 13, 2024.

Certain material required in this section is incorporated by reference into this subpart with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. All approved material is available for inspection at the address of the FCC's main office indicated in 47 CFR 0.401(a) and is available from the sources indicated in this section. It is also available for inspection at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, email [email protected] or go to www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibrlocations.html.

(a) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 3025 Boardwalk Drive, Suite 220, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, 1-855-999-9870, www.techstreet.com/ieee.

(1) IEEE 802.11p-2010, IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications Amendment 6: Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments, 15 July, 2010; into §§ 90.375(c), 90.379.

(2) [Reserved]

(b) [Reserved]

[86 FR 23299, May 3, 2021]

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024. Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 100852, Dec. 13, 2024.

The Intelligent Transportation Systems radio service is for the purpose of integrating radio-based technologies into the nation's transportation infrastructure and to develop and implement the nation's intelligent transportation systems. It includes the Location and Monitoring Service (LMS) and Dedicated Short Range Communications Service (DSRCS). Rules as to eligibility for licensing, frequencies available, and any special requirements for services in the Intelligent Transportation Systems radio service are set forth in this subpart.

[64 FR 66410, Nov. 26, 1999]

These provisions authorize the licensing of systems in the Location and Monitoring Service (LMS). LMS systems utilize non-voice radio techniques to determine the location and status of mobile radio units. LMS licensees authorized to operate a system in the 902-928 MHz band may serve individuals, federal government agencies, and entities eligible for licensing in this part 90.

(a) Each application to license an LMS system shall include the following supplemental information:

(1) A detailed description of the manner in which the system will operate, including a map or diagram.

(2) The necessary or occupied bandwidth of emission, whichever is greater.

(3) The data transmission characteristics as follows:

(i) The vehicle location update rates;

(ii) Specific transmitter modulation techniques used;

(iii) For codes and timing scheme: A table of bit sequences and their alphanumeric or indicator equivalents, and a statement of bit rise time, bit transmission rates, bit duration, and interval between bits;

(iv) A statement of amplitude-versus-time of the interrogation and reply formats, and an example of a typical message transmission and any synchronizing pulses utilized.

(4) A plan to show the implementation schedule during the initial license term.

(b) LMS stations are exempted from the identification requirements of § 90.425; however, the Commission may impose automatic station identification requirements when determined to be necessary for monitoring and enforcement purposes.

LMS systems may be authorized within the 902-928 MHz band, subject to the conditions in this section. LMS licensees are required to maintain whatever records are necessary to demonstrate compliance with these provisions and must make these records available to the Commission upon request:

(a) LMS operations will not cause interference to and must tolerate interference from industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) devices and radiolocation Government stations that operate in the 902-928 MHz band.

(b) LMS systems are authorized to transmit status and instructional messages, either voice or non-voice, so long as they are related to the location or monitoring functions of the system.

(c) LMS systems may utilize store and forward interconnection, where either transmissions from a vehicle or object being monitored are stored by the LMS provider for later transmission over the public switched network (PSN), or transmissions received by the LMS provider from the PSN are stored for later transmission to the vehicle or object being monitored. Real-time interconnection between vehicles or objects being monitored and the PSN will only be permitted to enable emergency communications related to a vehicle or a passenger in a vehicle. Such real-time, interconnected communications may only be sent to or received from a system dispatch point or entities eligible in the Public Safety or Special Emergency Radio Services. See subparts B and C of this part.

(d) Multilateration LMS systems will be authorized on a primary basis within the bands 904-909.75 MHz and 921.75-927.25 MHz. Additionally, multilateration and non-multilateration systems will share the 919.75-921.75 MHz band on a co-equal basis. Licensing will be on the basis of Economic Areas (EAs) for multilateration systems, with one exclusive EA license being issued for each of these three sub-bands. Except as provided in paragraph (f) of this section, multilateration EA licensees may be authorized to operate on only one of the three multilateration bands within a given EA. Additionally, EA multilateration LMS licenses will be conditioned upon the licensee's ability to demonstrate through actual field tests that their systems do not cause unacceptable levels of interference to 47 CFR part 15 devices.

(e) Multilateration EA-licensed systems and grandfathered automatic vehicle monitoring service (AVM) systems (see § 90.363) are authorized on a shared basis and must cooperate in the selection and use of frequencies in accordance with § 90.173(b).

(f) Multilateration EA licensees may be authorized to operate on both the 919.75-921.75 MHz and 921.75-927.75 MHz bands within a given EA (see § 90.209(b)(5)).

(g) Multilateration LMS systems whose primary operations involve the provision of vehicle location services, may provide non-vehicular location services.

(h) Non-multilateration stations are authorized to operate on a shared, non-exclusive basis in the 902-904 MHz and 909.75-921.75 MHz sub-bands. Non-multilateration systems and multilateration systems will share the 919.75-921.75 MHz band on a co-equal basis. Non-multilateration LMS systems may not provide non-vehicular location services. The maximum antenna height above ground for non-multilateration LMS systems is 15 meters.

(i) Non-multilateration LMS licenses will be issued on a site-by-site basis, except that municipalities or other governmental operatives may file jointly for a non-multilateration license covering a given U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis Economic Area (EA). Such an application must identify all planned sites. After receiving the license, the non-multilateration EA licensee must notify the Commission if sites are deleted or if new sites are added, before those sites may be put into operation.

[60 FR 15253, Mar. 23, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 52044, Oct. 6, 1997; 72 FR 35198, June 27, 2007; 75 FR 19284, Apr. 14, 2010]

Applications requiring not more than 25 kHz bandwidth per frequency in the 25-50 MHz, 150-170 MHz, and 450-512 MHz bands may use either base-mobile frequencies currently assigned the applicant, or be assigned base-mobile frequencies available in the service in which eligibility has been established, provided that:

(a) For transmission between vehicles and base stations, each frequency in a single-frequency mode of operation will provide location data for approximately 200 vehicles, or both frequencies in a two-frequency mode of operation will provide location data for approximately 400 vehicles, except that for frequencies in the 450-512 MHz band that are assigned in pairs in accordance with the allocation plan for the band, the requirement is that location data be provided for approximately 200 vehicles for each frequency pair; and a showing is made that 50 percent of the vehicles will be in operation within the system by the end of the second year of the initial license term, and 70 percent will be in operation within the system by the end of the initial license term; except that if these vehicle loading standards will not be met, frequencies will be assigned only on a secondary non-interference basis to any authorized radiotelephony operation.

(b) The minimum separation between a proposed LMS station and the nearest co-channel base station of another licensee operating a voice system is 75 miles (120 km) for a single frequency mode of operation or 35 miles (56 km) for a two-frequency mode of operation. Where the minimum mileage separation cannot be achieved, agreement to the use of F1D, F2D, G1D, G2D or P0N emission must be received from all existing co-channel licensees using voice emissions within the applicable mileage limits. If there is interference with voice operations and required agreement was not received, or operation was authorized on a secondary non-interference basis, the licensee of the LMS system is responsible for eliminating the interference.

(c) Frequencies additional to any assigned under paragraph (a) of this section will not be assigned to the same licensee at any stations located within 64 km (40 miles) of any station in which the licensee holds an interest until each of such licensee's frequencies for LMS operation is shown to accommodate not less than 90 percent of the frequency loading requirements specified in paragraph (a) of this section.

(a) Multilateration LMS systems will be authorized on the following LMS sub-bands:

(b) Non-multilateriation LMS systems will be authorized in the following frequency bands:

[72 FR 35198, June 27, 2007, as amended at 75 FR 19284, Apr. 14, 2010]

EA-licensed multilateration systems shall limit the field strength of signals transmitted from their base stations to 47 dBuV/m at their EA boundary.

[62 FR 52044, Oct. 6, 1997]

Operations authorized under parts 15 and 97 of this chapter may not cause harmful interference to LMS systems in the 902-928 MHz band. These operations will not be considered to be causing harmful interference to a multilateration LMS system operating in one of the three EA sub-bands (see § 90.357(a)) if they are non-video links operating in accordance with the provisions of parts 15 or 97 of this chapter and at least one of the following conditions are met:

(a) It is a field disturbance sensor operating under § 15.245 of this chapter and it is not operating in the 904-909.750 or 919.750-928.000 MHz sub-bands; or

(b) It does not employ an outdoor antenna; or

(c) If it does employ an outdoor antenna, then if:

(1) The directional gain of the antenna does not exceed 6 dBi, or if the directional gain of the antenna exceeds 6 dBi, it reduces its transmitter output power below 1 watt by the proportional amount that the directional gain of the antenna exceeds 6 dBi; and

(2) Either:

(i) The antenna is 5 meters or less in height above ground; or

(ii) The antenna is more than 5 meters in height above ground but less than or equal to 15 meters in height above ground and either:

(A) Adjusts its transmitter output power below 1 watt by 20 log (h/5) dB, where h is the height above ground of the antenna in meters; or

(B) Is providing the final link for communications of entities eligible under subpart B or C of this part, or is providing the final link for communications of health care providers that serve rural areas, elementary schools, secondary schools or libraries.

[60 FR 15253, Mar. 23, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 52044, Oct. 6, 1997]

(a) These provisions authorize grandfathered operation by automatic vehicle monitoring (AVM) systems licensed on or before February 3, 1995. To attain grandfathered status for their stations, existing multilateration AVM licensees must file, on or before May 22, 1995, applications to modify their station licenses to comply with the band plan shown in § 90.357(a). These applications to modify must identify the multilateration sub-band or sub-bands in which the applicants intend to operate their LMS system stations, once their applications to modify have been authorized. The application to modify a license to comply with the band plan shown in § 90.357(a) may also include a modification to specify an alternate site, so long as the alternate site is 2 kilometers or less from the site specified in the original license.

(b) When existing multilateration AVM licensees file applications to modify, as specified in paragraph (a) of this section, they must certify that either:

(1) The stations that compose their AVM system were constructed and placed in operation in accordance with § 90.155(e) on or before February 3, 1995; or

(2) The stations were not constructed and placed in operation in accordance with § 90.155(e) on or before February 3, 1995.

(c) Multilateration AVM systems that were constructed and placed in operation on or before February 3, 1995 will be given until April 1, 1998 to convert to the spectrum identified in their LMS system license. Such licensees may continue to operate their systems during this period. Licensees of multilateration AVM constructed and operational systems that do not file applications to modify on or before May 22, 1995, will be permitted to continue operations under the provisions of former § 90.239 until April 1, 1998 or the end of their original license term, whichever occurs first, at which time such licenses will cancel automatically and will not be renewed.

(d) Multilateration AVM licensees for stations that were not constructed and placed in operation on or before February 3, 1995 must construct their LMS systems and place them in operation on the spectrum identified in their LMS system license on or before September 1, 1996, or their licenses will cancel automatically (see Section 90.155 (e)). Also, these licenses will cancel automatically on July 1, 1996 unless timely modification applications are filed on or before this date (see paragraph (a) of this section).

(e) Non-multilateration systems licensed in spectrum other than the 902.00-904.00 and 909.75-921.75 MHz bands must modify their licenses by April 1, 1998 to specify operation solely in the bands provided in § 90.357(b) for non-multilateration systems and to operate their systems consistently with the provisions of § 90.353.

[60 FR 15253, Mar. 23, 1995, as amended at 61 FR 18986, Apr. 30, 1996]

(a) Eligibility. (1) Party seeking approval for partitioning and disaggregation shall request an authorization pursuant to § 1.948 of this chapter.

(2) Multilateration LMS licensees may apply to partition their licensed geographic service area or disaggregate their licensed spectrum at any time following the grant of their licenses. Multilateration LMS licensees may partition or disaggregate to any party that is also eligible to be a multilateration LMS licensee. Partitioning is permitted along any service area defined by the parties, and spectrum may be disaggregated in any amount. The Commission will also consider requests for partial assignment of licenses that propose combinations of partitioning and disaggregation.

(b) Partitioning. In the case of partitioning, applicants and licensees must file FCC Form 603 pursuant to § 1.948 and list the partitioned service area on a schedule to the application. The geographic coordinates must be specified in degrees, minutes, and seconds to the nearest second of latitude and longitude and must be based upon the 1983 North American Datum (NAD83).

(c) License term. The license term for a partitioned license area, and for disaggregated spectrum shall be the remainder of the original licensee's license term.

[63 FR 40663, July 30, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 68966, Dec. 14, 1998; 82 FR 41548, Sept. 1, 2017]