CES 2016: FCC Chairman Wheeler predicts an ‘extravaganza’ at wireless spectrum auction

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is clearly excited. 

In a one-on-one interview with Consumer Technology Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro at CES in Las Vegas today, Wheeler spoke colorfully about the upcoming spectrum auction, promising a “spectrum extravaganza” and hinting at a more wide-reaching auction than some have predicted

In March, the FCC is expected to launch the first rounds of a complex nationwide auction in which wireless carriers can bid to acquire spectrum owned by TV broadcasting stations, which would bolster their networks to help meet demand for mobile broadband. With the exception of Sprint, which has announced that it will not bid for spectrum (it acquired a large stock of spectrum in its 2012 acquisition of Clearwire), the auction is expected to attract many wireless service providers and even other companies like Google that have a vested interest in acquiring spectrum.

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