Report: FCC Votes to Limit Discounts in Airwaves Auction

The FCC Thursday approved plans to prevent large businesses from gaining access to small-business discounts in a much-anticipated auction of airwaves expected early next year.

The NY Times reports the new rules are in part a response to actions taken last year by Dish Network, the large satellite television operator, in another auction of airwaves. In that auction, Dish teamed up with smaller entities. Those corporations received a $3.25 billion discount on the $13 billion worth of spectrum they bought.

While the FCC has not concluded whether Dish Network broke any auction rules, the moves by the company led to calls for changes in the rules.

Tom Wheeler

The rules passed on Thursday, the agency said, would be harder for companies to game. Under those rules, companies may receive a maximum discount of $150 million, and wireless carriers are prohibited from bidding through multiple companies.

In addition, the commission said it would be aggressive in uncovering any cases of abuse.

“What we’re doing is we’re updating our rules to reflect the reality of the 21st century,” Tom Wheeler, chairman of the FCC, said at the vote on Thursday.

Next year, the FCC will coordinate the sale of billions of dollars in spectrum, the airwaves through which radio and Wi-Fi signals are carried. In what Wheeler has called “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for television broadcasters, the FCC is asking local TV stations to put up the rights to their airwaves on an online auction block. Cell carriers will have a window of time to outbid each other to buy the limited resource.

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