FCC’s Wheeler Said to Plan Limits for Wireless Airwaves Auction

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is proposing to limit the amount of airwaves any single company can purchase at the largest US spectrum auction since 2008, a person briefed on the plan said.

Top US wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon Communications have said curbs will reduce revenue the government reaps from the planned sale, and unfairly favor smaller competitors Sprint and T-Mobile US. The agency is to sell airwaves given up by television stations so the frequencies can be used by the growing number of smartphones and other wireless devices connecting to the Internet.

Finding more spectrum to meet soaring mobile-Internet demand is a goal of President Barack Obama’s administration.