Ryan Knutson & Shalini Ramachandran:
The auto and cable industries are in a jam over a lane of wireless spectrum.
Car companies want the airwaves—currently reserved for them—to allow vehicles to communicate with each other as well as infrastructure such as stoplights, making road traffic flow more smoothly. But in meetings with the Federal Communications Commission as recently as last week, the cable and technology industries have argued that more spectrum is needed for Wi-Fi service, as existing channels become increasingly congested.
Ultimately, the decision will be up to the FCC, which oversees spectrum allocation. The government shutdown derailed plans for a Tuesday hearing in front of the House subcommittee on Communications and Technology that had hopes of finding a solution.
A fascinating headline.