Preliminary FCC data regarding winning bidders in the 700 MHz auction indicated that, based on self-reporting, women-owned bidders failed to win any licenses and minority-owned bidders won less than one percent of licenses (7 of 1,090 licenses, or .064%), despite the fact that women constitute over half the U.S. population and minorities around one-third of the U.S. population.

In response, Commissioner Adelstein stated:
“It’s appalling that women and minorities were virtually shut out of this monumental auction. It’s an outrage that we’ve failed to counter the legacy of discrimination that has kept women and minorities from owning their fair share of the spectrum. Here we had an enormous opportunity to open the airwaves to a new generation that reflects the diversity of America, and instead we just made a bad situation even worse. This gives whole new meaning to “white spaces” in the spectrum.”