In a move which apparently will be the first of its kind by any government in the direction of paying for reclaiming public airwaves with the aim of selling them, the five-member Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave its unanimous approval, on Friday, to a preliminary yet all-encompassing proposal to realign airwaves.

The proposal which has been approved by FCC will help in creating high-speed wireless Internet networks for fueling the development of next-generation mobile devices; and will essentially involve `incentive auctions' --- that is, the sale of airwaves which broadcasters voluntarily relinquish in lieu of a share of the auction proceeds.

In other words, the proposal chiefly underscores that the government reclaims the public airwaves which are currently being used for broadcast TV, and auction the reclaimed airwaves off for use in wireless broadband networks; paying the broadcasters a portion of the proceeds.

Disclosing that the auction proposal has been unanimously approved by the FCC, the officials said that a plan detailing the `airwaves realignment' program will be released in the coming week; and public comments will be sought by the commission over the next few months.

Meanwhile, suggesting that the FCC should structure the auctions on the basis of the recommendations of the industry and the public, and ensure the best possible shifting of the broadcasters to new places on the electromagnetic spectrum, Republican commissioner Robert McDowell said: "In the past, regulatory efforts to over-engineer spectrum auctions have caused harmful, unintended consequences."