Chairman Wheeler's Response To Rep Chabot Regarding Small Business Participation in AWS-3 Auctions

On June 8, 2015, House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-OH) wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler regarding small business participation in AWS-3 Auctions, expressing that reports about small companies being squeezed out of the bidding on spectrum licenses in the auction were troubling.

On June 17, 2015, Chairman Wheeler responded by saying that two AWS-3 bidders Chairman Chabot discussed are having their applications reviewed by the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. Chairman Wheeler also wrote, "In addition to adjudicating individual license applications, the FCC is engaged in a more general effort to address the role of small businesses in spectrum auctions...It is my expectation that any new rules that are adopted will both reflect the dynamics of the current spectrum marketplace, and fulfill our statutory obligation to ensure that small businesses, rural telephone companies and minority and women-owned businesses have the opportunity to compete in spectrum auctions."