Report: Bitter Clashes Lead To FCC Inaction

Tom Wheeler

Bowing to pressure from congressional Republicans, Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, won't be holding a hotly anticipated vote this month on rules for a looming, high-stakes auction of wireless airwaves.

The Washington Post reports the decision comes just hours before the FCC was due to consider the auction rules on Thursday, and the sudden delay is another reminder of how bitterly divided the agency has become as it evolves into a more potent regulator of Internet access.

Calling it a "national priority" in a letter to Congress, Wheeler said he'll be postponing the vote to Aug. 6. Agency officials declined to comment further.

While Wheeler said the month-long setback isn't likely to throw the auction off-track, it does signal how contentious the issue has been both inside and outside the agency.

The pivotal auction promises to transfer control of a huge swath of the nation's airwaves from TV stations to cell service providers, which can use the new radio spectrum to expand their 3G and 4G data networks, making them faster and more reliable.

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