(Barcelona, February 27, 2017). The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) and the European Automotive Telecom Alliance (EATA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim of this partnership is to foster cooperation in the field of connected and autonomous driving solutions as well as standardisation, spectrum and related use cases.

The 5GAA and EATA are dedicated to prioritising the use cases identified by the two organisations in order to identify the technical requirements that need to be addressed, both in the short and in the long term. In order to better support standards for connected and automated driving, standardisation prioritisation for standards bodies such as ETSI, 3GPP and SAE International is necessary as well.

It’s beyond dispute that promoting spectrum-related issues (V2X), agreement on usage modalities of certain bands, security, and privacy, as well as vehicle safety requirements to be supported by both mobile network operators (MNOs) and vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) will need to be addressed jointly. Last but not least, the agreement between MNOs and OEMs is also key to developing business models and aligning the timelines of both industries.

The 5GAA includes 33 members, of which 8 are founding members (AUDI AG, BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia and Qualcomm Incorporated). The 5GAA is a multi-industry association to develop, test and promote communications solutions, initiate their standardization and accelerate their commercial availability and global market penetration to address the societal need. Focus areas are the development, testing and promotion of communications solutions, the initiation of their standardization and the acceleration of their commercial availability and global market penetration to address society’s connected mobility and road safety needs with applications such as autonomous driving, ubiquitous access to services and integration into smart city and intelligent transportation.

EATA is comprised of six leading associations and 38 companies at present, including telecom operators, vendors, automobile manufacturers and suppliers for both cars and trucks. The main objective of the Alliance is to promote the wide deployment of hybrid connectivity for connected and automated driving in Europe. EATA’s first concrete step is the advancement of a ‘pre-deployment project’ aimed at testing the performance of hybrid communication required for automated driving under real traffic situations.

Furthermore, EATA seeks to identify and address service and technology roadmaps, safety and security
needs, as well as regulatory and business issues. The project will tackle cross-border interoperability, including digital and physical infrastructure, as well as vehicle localisation issues.

“The revolution that connected and automated driving is going to bring about at the societal level is already shaping Europe’s automotive and telecoms sectors at a rapid pace. This Memorandum of Understanding with the 5GAA not only brings the different industry partners closer together but also reinforces the European Commission’s strategy on cooperative, connected and automated mobility that was launched at the end of 2016. Car connectivity and automation will require a mix of communications technologies, but it is clear that 5G technology can become a key enabler of Europe’s digital highways. Together, EATA and 5GAA will contribute to reinventing the driving experience.”

Erik Jonnaert, Chairman of the EATA Steering Committee

“5GAA was created to connect telecom industry and vehicle manufacturers to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transportation services. We look forward to working with EATA to define the requirements of C-V2X and to create a successful V2X ecosystem.”

Christoph Voigt, Chairman of the 5GAA Board

5GAA (www.5gaa.org) welcomes LG, Ford, Verizon, Denso and Gemalto as new members of the association.

“We are very pleased that LG, Ford, Verizon, Denso and Gemalto have joined the association. With their global footprint and diverse expertise across the communications and automotive ecosystems, these companies will contribute to the definition and development of next generation connected mobility and automated vehicle solutions” Dino Flore, Director General of 5GAA, said.

Kookyeon Kwak, Executive Vice President, Head of LG’s Advanced Standard R&D Lab, said, “Cellular communication will play a pivotal role to meet the requirement of safety, convenience, and infotainment for future smart cars. The trend is now being accelerated by the completion of LTE-V2X, the first cellular- based vehicle-communication standard. As a manufacturer in mobile communication and vehicle component areas, LG Electronics would like to contribute to 5GAA for connecting communication and automotive industries”.

“We are excited to work together with other automotive and technology providers to define a future that envisions new and empowering mobility services and solutions. We see the 5GAA as a key enabler to the development of a sustainable connected vehicle ecosystem.” Don Butler, Executive Director of Connected Vehicle and Services at Ford Motor Company, said.

DENSO CTO for the European region, Masato (Max) Nakagawa, commented: “Extending DENSO’s global efforts in the area of vehicular connectivity is strategically aligned to our policy ‘Protecting Lives, Preserving the Planet, and Preparing a Bright Future for Generations to Come’. Reinforcing this
direction, DENSO AUTOMOTIVE Deutschland GmbH has decided to join the 5GAA. We are proud to be accepted as 5GAA member and are looking forward to collaborating in the 5GAA. DENSO considers this engagement viable to complement our long term ongoing global support of 700MHz/5.9GHz V2X safety communication. 5GAA provides the environment for the cross-industry collaboration required to define corresponding future mobile communication systems. In collaboration with the 5GAA partners we plan to explore, define and develop multi-spectral connectivity to support future mobility demands, especially in the area of connected and automated driving.”

“Gemalto is thrilled to join 5GAA and work within this prestigious group of global leaders to enable the world of new mobility that will revolutionize the automotive sector,” says Frederic Vasnier, EVP
Embedded Software and Products. “Gemalto has demonstrated its unrivaled expertise to ensure simple, seamless and ubiquitous connectivity with robust security mechanisms inside the vehicle, between vehicles and with the connected ecosystem of devices, pedestrians, and the cloud.”

5GAA was created to bridge automotive and communication industries in order to develop, test and promote connected mobility solutions, initiate their standardization and accelerate the commercial availability and global market penetration.

Since its inception, 5GAA has been experiencing rapid expansion to include key players with a global footprint in the communication and automotive industries, including car manufacturers, tier-1 suppliers, chipset/communication system providers, mobile operators and infrastructure vendors.

To achieve its long-term goals, the association is creating five Working Groups to address the following areas of work: Use Cases and Technical Requirements; System Architecture and Solution Development; Evaluation, Testbeds and Pilots; Standard & Spectrum; Business Models and Go-To-Market Strategies. In addition, the board is planning the needed policy and advocacy efforts to join the relevant discussions in this space with different regulators, policymakers, and administrations around the world.

We are pleased to announce that the 5G Automotive Association will plunge into the debate on technologies for road safety as it takes part in the Euractiv Forum “Safe EU Roads Thanks to Technology” as an event partner.

As the Cellular-Vehicle-To Everything (C-V2X) technology and its evolution to 5G will enable life-saving communications, the forum will be a source of debate further reinforcing the discussion on the subject. The focus will encompass the cost of deploying the C-V2X technology, the path to 5G, the challenges associated with new technologies as well as the regulations ensuing from its development.

Join us on Thursday 27 September from 17:00 to 20:00 at the Euractiv Network Office in Brussels and attend 5GAA’s CTO Maxime Flament Speech as he opens the Forum.

Register here to attend.