The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) (Minister Lee Jong-ho) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (Minister Won Hee-ryong) announced that the Expert Committee on Determining a Single Communication Method for C-ITS, which has been operating since last September, has decided that LTE-V2X will be the single communication method for next-generation cooperative intelligent transportation systems* (C-ITS), and will proceed with follow-up measures such as revising technical standards.

* A system that provides road surface conditions, falling objects, traffic accident information, and surrounding vehicle information to drivers and pedestrians through communication between vehicles and base stations around the road to create a safe road environment.

MSIT and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport decided on a single C-ITS communication method between the WAVE (DSRC) method based on Wi-Fi technology and the LTE-V2X method based on mobile communication technology within the year after inter-ministerial consultation on the C-ITS communication method in August 2021 and demonstration according to the “New Growth 4.0 Strategy 2023 Plan and Roadmap for Each Year”, and decided to promote the nationwide spread of C-ITS under a single method after 2024.

In response, the two ministries jointly tested the maximum effective communication area, communication area, and latency of LTE-V2X in 2022, and conducted a comparison test of WAVE and LTE-V2X methods in 2023.

Since then, MSIT has organized and operated the ‘C-ITS Communication Method Decision Expert Committee’ with private experts in the C-ITS field to make a professional and fair decision, and held a public hearing on the 16th of last month attended by more than 150 people to hear industry opinions.

The ‘C-ITS Communication Method Decision Expert Committee’ proposed LTE-V2X as the single C-ITS communication method to MSIT after a comprehensive review of technology and industry, as well as public benefits.

Accordingly, MSIT plans to finalize the institutionalization of the C-ITS communication method by revising the technical standards as soon as possible after faithfully collecting opinions from related ministries and related organizations.

In addition, MOLIT plans to build C-ITS infrastructure in stages from roads with high importance by establishing installation standards that allow LTE-V2X methods to operate smoothly on real roads.

An official from the Ministry of Science and ICT said, “We hope that infrastructure investment and product development related to domestic autonomous driving based on the LTE-V2X method will be further activated in the future, and we expect it to be an opportunity for domestic companies to enter the global market, especially as the spread of C-ITS based on LTE-V2X is expected to be promoted in earnest in the United States, China, and India.”