Connected cars may have to share the air FCC mulls letting Wi-Fi
devices use same band WASHINGTON -- The Federal Communications
Commission sent a clear warning to the auto industry last week:
Show progress on "connected car" technology or risk losing
exclusive access to a coveted section of the wireless spectrum.
Connected cars, which have been in development for more than a
decade, would communicate with one another using wireless
signals to avoid crashes. The FCC voted to consider letting Wi-
Fi devices use the 5.9 GHz band that the commission set aside
for vehicle safety technology in 1999. Commissioners said the
government needs to let businesses and individuals use more of
the large swaths of the spectrum reserved for special uses, such
as connected cars. "Putting these bands to better commercial use
could have tremendous benefits," FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said
before the vote. The FCC is not expected to decide the matter
until next year at the earliest. The idea of sharing the band
had trade groups for