The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) represents the automotive and telecom industry’s alignment for the global connected and autonomous vehicle, supported by more than 50 member companies including many world class car manufacturers. 5GAA’s mission is to develop, test and promote communication solutions for the future of the 5G automotive economy in Europe and globally. The 5GAA is actively contributing to ETSI, 3GPP and ITU in the fields of standardisation and spectrum-related matters. The 5GAA is committed to accelerating Cellular-V2X (C-V2X) standards seamlessly embracing 4G and 5G, and would like to call on the European Commission to support stakeholders in this collaborative process by providing leadership and timely regulatory support.

The GSMA, which represents the Mobile Network Operators globally, has succeddfully collaborated with the Automotive Industry for many years. Together we have created secure solutions that have advanced the Connected Car market with major benefits to consumers. Cellular V2X will enable further cross-industry collaboration with government agencies in cities and transport. The GSMA believes that C-V2X will contribute to safer vehicles, reduce congestion and pollution. It will build upon the existing 23 million existing Cellular Connected Car market in Europe and drive the deployment of Digital Europe.

The 5GAA is keenly aware of the imperative for road safety and the need for Europe to assert 5G leadership while ensuring spectrum efficiency. Given the longevity of vehicles and the significant industry investment in cellular technologies, C-V2X will be of utmost importance as Europe and the world transitions to 5G in supporting mission critical applications and the massive opportunities associated with the introduction of a new global standard.

We therefore urge the European Commission to allow the ITS-G5 and C-V2X stakeholders to work collaboratively toward an agreement on the future of connected and automated cars, without a premature and cumbersome legislative decision.

The 5GAA is confident that the industry will ultimately align with a pragmatic solution that saves the most lives while embracing technology evolution, and managing complexity and cost. We firmly believe in and pledge to collaboratively work with other stakeholders on solutions that ultimately benefit the European Union. We encourage the European Commission to support technology neutrality, mitigating a significant risk that 5G in the key automotive vertical will struggle, thus impacting the European automotive industry and the future growth and global competitiveness of the EU economy.

Europe is an important pillar for members of the 5GAA and is leading the world in the development of smart transportation solutions. A considerable part of C-V2X innovation occurs in Europe, and will contribute to road safety, the development of smart cities and trans-border corridors, to achieve the efficiency and environmental objectives that ultimately benefit European citizens. 5GAA members are accelerating C-V2X with pre-commercial trials in Europe, and will culminate in global deployments.

We are strongly supportive of 3GPP technologies for direct communications over ITS spectrum to enable vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-pedestrian (and other vulnerable road users), i.e. C-V2X, while also leveraging vehicle-to-network over mobile operator spectrum. An important part of the ongoing 5GAA work is to support the European Commission’s policies laid out in the C-ITS Masterplan, as well as Gear2030 for Highly Automated Vehicles and the 5G Action Plan. We strongly rely on the European institutional support to enable a regulatory framework conducive to an industry-driven and swift deployment of the platform of their choice.

The 5GAA looks forward to continuing the dialogue with the European Commission and the various industry stakeholders in order to lay the foundation for a 5G automotive future in Europe.

Download the letter here

The 5G Automotive Association announced today the election of its new Board members following the General Assembly held on May 11, 2017. Continuing members AUDI AG, BMW Group, China Mobile, Daimler AG, Ericsson, Ford, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, SAIC Motor, Vodafone Group and Qualcomm Incorporated will be joined by AT&T, Jaguar Land Rover, NTT DOCOMO and Samsung Electronics.

The election of AT&T, Jaguar Land Rover, NTT DOCOMO and Samsung Electronics as Board members will strengthen the position of 5GAA as a global, cross-industry association of automotive, technology and telecommunications companies. It reflects the diversity of 5GAA’s membership, both in terms of geographical spread and expertise.

The Chairperson is Christoph Voigt (Audi) and the Vice Chairperson is Thierry Klein (Nokia), both elected to their second term. The Board of the Association renewed the mandate of the outgoing Executive Committee: Dino Flore (Qualcomm) will continue to serve as Director General, Markus Dillinger (Huawei) as Secretary, and Fathi Arafat Husein El-Dwaik (BMW) as Treasurer. The Board also confirmed the appointment of elected Working Groups Chairs and Vice-Chairs.

“We are very pleased that AT&T, Jaguar Land Rover, NTT DOCOMO and Samsung Electronics have joined the 5GAA Board,” said Christoph Voigt, Chairman of the 5GAA Board. “With their global footprint and diverse expertise, they will contribute to further connect communication and the automotive industry to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transportation services.”

The 5G Automotive Association has become a Market Representation Partner (MRP) in 3GPP, bringing in the influence and expertise of vehicle manufacturers and a variety of important companies from the automotive sector, to the 3GPP environment. Dino Flore, Director General of 5GAA, was present at the 3GPP Organizational Partner’s meeting in West Palm Beach on April 26, to complete the signing of the Partnership Agreement.

The 5GAA application for 3GPP MRP status stated “It is important to connect the telecom industry and vehicle manufacturers, to develop end-to-end solutions for future mobility and transportation services” Dino Flore told the 3GPP OP meeting “The access part is vitally important and we will work on that with 3GPP. In addition to that, we will look at the other pieces required – including the work on upper layers (SDOs including ETSI-ITS, ISO, SAE and IEEE) and security aspects – to develop the system as a whole.”

The work is ongoing in 3GPP, with an initial version of the V2X access specifications in Release 14 and active discussions to define next generation V2X capabilities on-going. Susan Miller (3GPP OP Chair, ATIS President and CEO) welcomed 5GAA as a partner and noted the positive effect that Dino Flore’s vast experience in the 3GPP leadership, most recently as the RAN Chairman, will have for the successful integration of the 5GAA into the 3GPP family. Ms. Miller said “5GAA is bringing in the needs of a key vertical at an important time for the project.”

“5G will be much more than mobile broadband connectivity, it will cover a variety of use-cases and industries” Dino Flore, DG 5GAA.

(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

Coincident with her confirmation, the 5GAA Board convened this week in California to support the development and deployment of cellular V2X solutions that evolve into 5G.

These solutions enable vehicle connectivity, safety services, and automated driving. The Board notes that our mission to enable safety and efficient travel meets the vision expressed by Secretary Chao. We congratulate the USDOT Secretary and are encouraged by her support of connected cars and autonomous vehicles.

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.

5G Techritory is the annual Baltic Sea Region 5G Ecosystem Forum organised by the Electronic Communications Office (ECO) of Latvia, aiming at gathering decision makers, major representatives from industry associations, and business leaders to discuss the deployment of the earliest available commercial applications of 5G technology. Its second edition is going to be held in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 27-29 November.

Taking place in a vibrant region for 5G implementation, the 5G Automotive Association is proud to be confirmed once again as one of the main partners of this conference. 5GAA Director General Johannes Springer is going to participate as a speaker in front of an audience of up to a thousand senior professionals invited upon an attentive selection to ensure the highest quality of debate.

The 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) has the pleasure to announce its Conference on 6 February in Brussels.

This event is intended to advance the dialogue between high-level institutional and industry stakeholders on current challenges in the field of connected and automated mobility. Representatives from the European institutions, local and national authorities, and 5GAA members will discuss ongoing challenges for connected and automated mobility and provide solutions by presenting the capabilities and deployment models of the Cellular Vehicle to Everything (“C-V2X”) technology.

Agenda:

09:00 – 09:30: Welcome and Introduction
09:30 – 10:30: First Session

– 5G: The Connected and Automated Automotive Revolution
– 5G in Cars: Is the Technology Ready?
– Digitalising European roads: leveraging synergies with mobile networks

10:30 – 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:00: Second Session

– Current status of the 5G Strategic Deployment Agenda in Europe
– The Evolving Role of National Road Authorities in The Digital Era

12:00 – 12:50: ‘Ask the 5GAA experts’ Session
12:50 – 13:00: Closing Session

Confirmed speakers include:

– Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth (video message)
– Dino Flore, Vice President of Technology, Qualcomm
– Caspar de Jonge, Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
– Johannes Springer, CTO Connected Car T-Systems & Director General of the 5G Automotive Association
– Maxime Flament, CTO of the 5G Automotive Association

More speakers will be announced shortly. 

Stay tuned for the detailed programme!

5GAA is co-hosting a webinar with GSMA on 1 July on “How Can C-V2X Create an Environment that Improves Quality of Life for Everyone?”

In this non-technical session, the CTO Maxime Flament will join the panel to discuss how C-V2X can enable more efficient driving and deliver improved road safety for all traffic participants:

• The socio-economic benefits of connected vehicles for people and the environment (V2P/V2I)

• The seamless evolution for V2X from 4G to 5G

• C-V2X trials and use cases

• C-V2X state of the market and deployment roadmap

For more information and to register, click here.

5G World will take place as a virtual event to deliver critical insights and enabling powerful connections between the full 5G ecosystem: service providers, vendors, enterprises, media and more to share insights, best practice and connect over 3 days.

With a refreshed virtual experience format, 5G World will deliver keynote presentations, panel discussions, and case studies from global operator leaders to help you understand learnings from 5G launches and to share best practices on technical deployments, 5G monetisation, enterprise 5G, network evolution and more. The unique 5G World Virtual Event Exhibition is an opportunity to explore the latest technology, meet with exhibitors, and view demos of products and services. It will be possible to connect with senior decision-makers from the telecom operator and enterprise community through enhanced networking provided by the event intelligent matchmaking service powered by AI.

5GAA CTO Maxime Flament will join the panel Don’t Drive Over the Edge: Connecting Vehicles with the Latest Technologies focused on:

• Understanding the role of edge computing in connected vehicles

• From three-wheelers to monster trucks: building technology to connect all vehicle types

• From connected vehicles to autonomous vehicles: understanding and overcoming technical challenges

Moderator: David Wong, Senior Technology and Innovation Manager, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)

Panellists:

• Leifeng Ruan, Chairman WG2, Automotive Edge Computing Consortium

• Maxime Flament, Chief Technology Officer, 5G Automotive Association

• Peter Stoker, Director: Vehicle Engineering, Millbrook Testbed

 Confirmed speakers:

• Oliver Bahns, Senior Vice President Connected Mobility, Deutsche Telekom AG, T-Systems, Digital Solutions

• Kelei Shen, Chief Technology Officer, Harman

• Stephan Durach, Senior Vice President, Connected Company Development, Technical Operations, BMW Group