How the FCC plans to clear the air for more mobile data

[Commentary] Not long from now, cars will start talking to other cars. Wearable technology will put the Internet on your body. Phones won't just be for interacting with the Web anymore; they'll also start to respond to other inanimate objects around them. All of this stuff depends on radio signals moving back and forth between devices. Problem is, with so many of these transmissions crowding the airwaves, a lot of them could get lost to interference. To fix the coming crunch, federal regulators think they've come up with the right solution: Give companies like Verizon and AT&T a lot more frequencies on the wireless spectrum to play with.

But where will all those extra channels come from? If all goes according to plan, in 2014, hundreds of TV stations will get a big check to shut down operations and give up their spectrum so that when you fire up your data connection, you won't get caught in an online traffic jam. All told, the FCC hopes to take about 20 channels worth of spectrum that are currently licensed to various TV stations across the country and auction them off to the wireless companies in various local markets. In principle, the deal benefits everybody. Broadcasters who are struggling to make ends meet can exit the industry with a nice chunk of change. Wireless companies get to use the newly freed-up spectrum. And some revenues from the auction will go toward funding new government projects like a dedicated nationwide first-responder network.