Groups battle over space set aside for auto safety

Turns out there is only so much room on the much-hyped Internet of Things, and different industries and their associations are fighting for space.

Legislation recently introduced in Congress would open up a chunk of wireless spectrum for more Wi-Fi use. The problem? The spectrum in question is currently dedicated to auto safety applications, and auto manufacturers and highway safety officials want to use it to implement crash avoidance systems.

"Happening 10 times per second, these (crash avoidance) communications must be free of any signal interference," nine transportation association leaders wrote in a Feb. 9 letter to members of Congress. "One miscommunication or blocked signal could cause a crash and, possibly, serious injuries or deaths."

Signatories include the Auto Alliance, AAA, Global Automakers and the American Public Transportation Association. http://bit.ly/1KJaDO5

On the other side, the tech industry is eager to gets its hands on the spectrum in a push to connect a wider variety of devices in the home and workplace. Vince Jesaitis, vice president of government affairs for the Information Technology Industry Council, argued in a recent blog post that there is room enough for both common Internet use and auto safety.

"(W)ith this bill, we are optimistic that if the significant technical expertise and input from many of our member companies is included to advance the technical process, successful sharing of the upper 5 GHz band is feasible," he said. http://bit.ly/1AY6gwK

The bill's bipartisan sponsors have labeled the legislation the Wi-Fi Innovation Act.