This study evaluated different vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication systems deployment options and included a cost analysis using data derived from four main industry stakeholder groups:

• Road Operators
• Mobile Network Operators
• Automotive OEMs
• Technology Suppliers.

A total of 25 stakeholders from EU and US markets provided input to evaluate three distinct technologies across four deployment options.

TECHNOLOGIES

1. Cellular network-based communications that use 2G, 3G, 4G and/or 5G. 
2. Direct communications that use dedicated spectrum for 802.11p (DSRC-WAVE in the US and ITS-G5 in Europe)
3. Direct communications that use dedicated spectrum for PC5 (C-V2X communications operating in the harmonized 5.9 GHz band).

DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS

• OPTION A: Pure cellular network-based (Uu) system 
  • Data exchange between road system and vehicle
    • LTE/5G Uu
  • Backhaul
    • Network equipment: Fiber
  • Operations 
    • Mobile network operator (MNO)
  • Components 
    • Roadside Infrastructure (RSI)
    • Cellular Network
    • Central ICT System (i.e., cloud, traffic management center, PKI, data center)
• OPTION B: Combined system of Uu and an 802.11p-enabled RSU
  • Data exchange between road system and vehicle
    • DSRC/ITS-G5 (RSU) and LTE/5G Uu
  • Backhaul 
    • Network equipment: Fiber
  • Operations 
    • RSU: Uu or Fiber/ethernet
    • Network equipment: MNO
  • Components 
    • Roadside
    • Cellular Network
    • Central ICT System
    • Roadside unit (RSU)
• OPTION C: Combined system of Uu and a PC5-enabled RSU (C-V2X solution) 
  • Data exchange between road system and vehicle
    • PC5 (RSU) and LTE/5G Uu
  • Backhaul
    • RSU: Uu or Fibre/ethernet
    • Network equipment: Fiber
  • Operations
    • Network equipment: MNO
    • RSU: Uu or Fibre/ethernet
  • Components
    • RSI
    • Cellular Network
    • Central ICT System
    • RSU
• OPTION D: Combined system of Uu and a dual radio RSU with both 802.11p and PC5
  • Data exchange between road system and vehicle
    • PC5 and DSRC/ITS-G5 (RSU) and LTE/5G Uu
  • Backhaul
    • RSU: Uu or Fibre/ethernet
    • Network equipment: Fiber
  • Operations
    • Network equipment: MNO
  • Components
    • RSI
    • Cellular Network
    • Central ICT System
    • RSU

SYSTEM COSTS

An alternatives analysis was conducted to compare the relative cost of supporting V2I applications using a pure cellular system versus the cost to support V2I using a network of RSUs having varied levels of fiber a wireless backhaul configurations.  The comparison provides rough order of magnitude cost estimates where RSU spacing was specified at 1 km increments in areas with dense traffic conditions.

Pure Cellular (Option A)

The source report depicts estimated average annual cost per km estimated for different road types. The information below was roughly derived from graphics in the source report where the cost for each road type were broken into Data costs, Roadside Infrastructure (RSI) costs (Capital and O&M) and Backhaul costs.

• Freeway: $1,400 per year/km (Data 65%; RSI 5%; and Backhaul 30%)
• Primary Roads: $900 per year/km (Data 43%; RSI 7%; and Backhaul 50%)
• Secondary Roads: $700 per year/km (Data 20%; RSI 10%; and Backhaul 70%)
• Other Roads: $500 per year/km (Data 3%; RSI 12%; and Backhaul 85%)
• Urban Roads: $1,200 per year/km (Data 20%; RSI 10%; and Backhaul 70%)

Depending on the road type and V2I applications required, cellular network data costs for V2I vary between 3 to 65 percent of the total in-year cost for a pure cellular deployment.

RSU Deployment (Options B, C and D)

The source report depicts the lifetime (10 years) cost per RSU with different backhaul installations with RSUs spaced at one km increments to support a high number of V2I events per km.  The information below was roughly derived from graphics in the source report where costs were broken out into RSU costs (capital and O&M), RSI upgrade costs, and Backhaul costs (capital and O&M).

• RSU Network with Fiber Backhaul: $52,000 per km (RSU capital 15%; RSU O&M 17%; RSI upgrade 5%; Backhaul capital 63%; Backhaul O&M 0%)
• RSU Network with Wireless Backhaul: $36,500 per km (RSU capital 22%; RSU O&M 25%; RSI upgrade 7%; Backhaul capital 9%; Backhaul O&M 37%)
• RSU Network with No Backhaul Installation: $20,000 per km (RSU capital 40%; RSU O&M 45%; RSI upgrade 15%; Backhaul capital 0%; Backhaul O&M 0%)

The highest costs were projected for fiber installations where backhaul capital expenditures accounted for the majority of costs. Where wireless backhaul is used, costs are split roughly evenly between the backhaul and RSU, with the respective O&M costs (cellular data and maintenance) accounting for a significant share over the ten-year period. Wireless backhaul may be used in mobile deployment environments (i.e., work zones) or when there is no existing fiber to connect with and the costs to lay new fiber are too high. In the lowest cost installation option, an existing wired backhaul network is assumed to be available, meaning only RSU costs are incurred.

Overall Assessment

A solution that includes a large-scale deployment beginning in 2020 would result in costs ranging from $7 billion (for Option A) to $12 billion (for Options B,C and D) by 2035.