The FCC and Automakers Must Save Our Wi-Fi

The technologies available today offer consumers a safer experience than Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) without a mandate placed on the auto industry. In addition, auto companies argue that sharing the 5.9 GHz spectrum, which they aren’t currently using, would place consumers in danger due to the risk of interference. Yet the only way to know whether spectrum sharing would cause meaningful inference with DSRC is to conduct testing, something the auto industry has refused to do for years. The bottom line is that the car companies are squatting on spectrum that they aren’t using and refuse to share. The Federal Communications Commission should adopt a “framework order” setting basic rules for sharing and refining them with later testing. This would open up spectrum that we all need to continue innovating.