I've been asked this question a few times. To summarize:
This NPR does not change our part 97 secondary use. The primary use has been allocated to Transportation use (Dedicated Short Range Communications DSRC). This has been called "Intelligent vehicle", recently they are using "Transportation Safety". The car manufacturers have not used this space effectively. Thus this FCC NPR proposes to take some of the allocation away from Transportation use. What the proposal says is:
1) channels up to ~179 would now be shared with wifi unlicensed :( .
2) 179 - 181 would continue to be Transportation safety, but now only the companies focused on 802.11 protocols (similar to wifi protocols)
3) 181 - 185 would continue to be Transportation safety for companies focused on 5G cell protocols.
#2 and #3 are not new, this was already the case with commercial usage ramping up on this frequency space.
We were much happier to co-exist with the transportation folks, which would not compete with us at tower sites. But since they didn't use this resource quick enough, if this change happens, we'll complete with the wifi unlicensed usage up to ch ~179, a problematic endeavor.
Joe AE6XE
Joe AE6XE