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FCC to Test Sharing Options for Broadcast Band Reserved for Cars

Carmakers and telecom companies have agreed to test whether wi-fi services and cars safety share bandwidth set aside to enable vehicles to talk to each other and their surroundings.

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Carmakers and telecom companies have agreed to test whether wi-fi services and cars safety share bandwidth set aside to enable vehicles to talk to each other and their surroundings.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will conduct the tests and report results by the end of 2016, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The FCC set aside the so-called 5.9 GHz band 15 years ago to carry car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication. Carmakers haven't yet implemented services that use the band but insist they are close to doing so.

In the meantime, telecoms are eager to expand capacity to satisfy rapid growth in demand for wi-fi services. Those companies have been pressing the FCC to release some of the 5.9 GHz spectrum to them. The FCC says will evaluate several sharing proposals.

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