Mobile Broadband in Car 'Fundamentally Different' From Wired Connection to Home, GM Tells FCC
General Motors weighed in at the FCC, raising concerns about proposals that the agency subject mobile broadband to the same rules as fixed as it moves forward on net neutrality regulations. GM said it has a real stake in the…
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issue since it's building technology into cars so they can offer a built-in vehicle hot spot. Mobile broadband in a car moving at 75 miles down a highway or stuck in a traffic jam is “fundamentally different” from a wired connection to a consumer’s home and “merits continued consideration under distinct rules that take this into account,” GM said. The FCC can't “define exceptions for ‘reasonable network management’ for circumstances it can’t imagine,” GM said. GM said the future holds a promise of continuing innovation for cars and mobile broadband. “We urge the Commission to preserve the regulatory environment that can continue to foster this,” GM said. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has hinted repeatedly that mobile broadband will be subject to the same rules as fixed, but with an exception allowing carriers to engage in “reasonable network management.”