Transportation

Broadband infrastructure may be the latest public utility connecting homes and businesses, but it’s also foundational to the emergence of “smart roads” and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Much of the discussion around broadband expansion has been focused, appropriately, on connecting large swaths of the nation with no Internet or less-than-stellar infrastructure.

On May 15, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel spoke about the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. She spoke about some of the actions the FCC has taken to help and protect survivors of domestic abuse, including requiring phone carriers to "swiftly and securely separate phone lines of survivors from family plans." The Chairwoman also spoke about action the FCC is taking to prevent internet connected cars from being used by abusers to stalk and harass survivors. "I don’t think that answer is good enough.

Some say the car a person drives can say a lot about them. As cars get “connected,” this turns out to be truer than many people might have realized. While connectivity can let drivers do things like play their favorite internet radio stations or unlock their car with an app, connected cars can also collect a lot of data about people.

We write to request that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate several automobile manufacturers — Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, Volkswagen, BMW, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, and Kia — for deceiving their customers by falsely claiming to require a warrant or court order before turning over customer location data to government agencies. Recent investigations by our offices confirmed that only some of the car companies are honoring this commitment.

The Federal Communications Commission will launch a formal proceeding to examine how it can best help stop abusers from using connectivity tools in vehicles to harass and intimidate their partners. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will examine how the agency can use existing law to ensure car manufacturers and wireless service providers are taking steps to assist abuse victims and seek comment on additional steps the Commission can take to safeguard domestic violence survivors.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel called on the agency to help stop abusers from using connectivity tools in vehicles to harass and intimidate their partners. Her proposal would examine how the agency can use existing law to ensure car manufacturers and wireless service providers are taking steps to assist abuse victims and seek comment on additional steps the Commission can take to safeguard domestic violence survivors.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wrote to auto manufacturers as well as wireless service providers to seek their help in protecting domestic abuse survivors from the misuse of connected car tools by abusers.

Open Signal users on AT&T and Verizon’s networks have enjoyed substantial boosts in their download speeds around U.S.

Car buyers must now decide which connected services they want to add.

After being granted waivers from the Federal Communications Commission, the Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) will integrate cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology across the state. C-V2X technology enables data sharing between vehicles, transportation infrastructure, pedestrians, and mobile networks to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, and increase road safety.