The FCC can achieve a win-win solution for auto safety and broadband by taking a fresh look at the rules for the 5.9 GHz band. The technology landscape has drastically changed in the 20 years since the FCC adopted the existing rules, old and, as a result, the spectrum sits unused today in the vast majority of the country. Continuing a policy of dedicating spectrum to specific transportation applications would merely perpetuate the waste of this extremely valuable resource at a time when we need it more than ever the existing problem.

Wi-Fi is central to our lives and delivers essential services that will only expand with 5G. Every major e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retailer relies on Wi-Fi to fulfill orders; hospitals use Wi-Fi to carry medical telemetry and connect an average of 15 devices per patient room; global airlines depend on Wi-Fi for ticket scanners, baggage scanners, maintenance inspections, flight plan transmissions and more. And Wi-Fi will be critical to bringing 5G services to rural areas not suitable for dense cellular deployments and for providing high-speed indoor connectivity. The country has waited long enough to put this band to work.