In addition, the commission said it would be aggressive in uncovering any cases of abuse.

“What we’re doing is we’re updating our rules to reflect the reality of the 21st century,” Tom Wheeler, chairman of the F.C.C., said at the vote on Thursday.

Next year, the F.C.C. will coordinate the sale of billions of dollars in spectrum, the airwaves through which radio and Wi-Fi signals are carried. In what Mr. Wheeler has called “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for television broadcasters, the F.C.C. is asking local TV stations to put up the rights to their airwaves on an online auction block. Cell carriers will have a window of time to outbid each other to buy the limited resource.

The F.C.C. says it hopes the auction will help Americans get better connections to the Internet with their smartphones and other mobile devices.

When Dish Network’s actions became known this year, Ajit Pai, a Republican commissioner, called the earlier auction process a “mockery” and suggested there could be some bipartisan unity on changing the rules. But Mr. Pai and the other Republican commissioner ultimately voted against the proposal, arguing that the new rules made it too easy for small businesses to license spectrum to the large carriers, like AT&T and Verizon, with which they are supposed to be competing. All three Democrats on the commission, including Mr. Wheeler, voted for the rules.

“We have the blessing of new loopholes through which a minimally competent attorney could drive a truck,” Mr. Pai said during the vote.