"The administration believes that the (airwaves) should be auctioned without price or product mandate," Mr. Gutierrez wrote. "The history of FCC spectrum auctions has shown that the potential for problems increases in instances where licensing is overly prescriptive or designed around unproven business models."

Outgoing FCC Chairman Kevin Martin hopes to win approval for his plan next week, at one of the last FCC meetings he will chair.

Mr. Martin has proposed auctioning off some airwaves for a new, national wireless broadband service next year. The winner of the auction would be required to offer free wireless Internet access across the country within a few years on a portion of those airwaves.

The free, advertising-supported service wouldn't necessarily be speedy – it would be faster than dial-up, slower than most cable broadband offerings -- and would come equipped with a smut-filter to keep children 18 and younger from viewing porn and other racy fare. The winner of the auction could offer a higher-speed subscription service on the rest of the airwaves.

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