LAS VEGAS — With millions of smartphone users watching video and streaming music on the go, the airwaves have gotten a little crowded. Fortunately, there's help on the way.

The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to auction off a chunk of spectrum that would provide more room for media streaming over wireless networks. Chairman Tom Wheeler called the move a game changer during an interview at CES.

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In 84 days, the FCC will gear up to auction off airwaves for nationwide local TV stations to wireless carriers like AT&T for billions of dollars — and the deadline nears for broadcasters to join in. According to the Wall Street Journal, about 2,000 stations could sell broadcasting licenses in the auction. The report highlighted how the move would allow stations access to cash amid challenges from wireless services, online video and new audience behaviors.

"We have seen a lot of interest from broadcasters — the big networks and big groups — and this is the last time we sell the sand on the beach because this is beach front offerings," Wheeler told CES attendees.

By participating in the auction, these stations will free up airwave spectrum space by moving to a lower frequency channel or share it with another station. This means the spectrum will be a less crowded highway so, for example, streaming videos will load much faster.

The price will be dependent on location, too: Those in bigger cities will likely face higher charges.

"We are going to make a market. If we can't raise enough money [for] one... we'll have triggers along the way that measure that and when you establish thresholds, [we will] go into a final round," he said. "It will be set by the market. What is exciting is this is not bureaucracy sitting down and divvying things up; it's the marketplace deciding what is the best use of spectrum and creating opportunities not only for the wireless carriers but also for broadcasters to rethink how they will do business."

He also addressed the concerns associated with the move: "Broadcasters thought early on this would be a threat, but it is an opportunity to rethink your business. What is the big breakthrough that digital creates in a spectrum environment? How do you take a 600 MHz spectrum and put it into different broadcast channels and say 'let's share?'"

In addition, he lauded the criticism late-night host John Oliver has brought to net neutrality, which is a dense (but important) subject.

"He got people interested," Wheeler said. "The number of issues we address that have a real consumer impact... think of what we are doing with set-top boxes... [is small]. John Oliver took an issue and made it into something that people are interested in. We got 4 million responses from consumers, and that is good."

At the core, net neutrality means all data and content on the Internet must be treated equally, whether you're a college student in a dorm room or a mega-conglomerate that uses up a lot of the web's speed for, say, streaming movies and TV shows. Essentially, it means the web can continue as we know it today, while making it illegal for cable and phone companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon to charge a premium to content providers such as Netflix for faster service. Cable and phone companies have spent millions of dollars to lobby against net neutrality, which, broadly, is supposed to protect the Internet from becoming a two-lane highway.

Wheeler stressed the importance of making the spectrum efficient for everyone.

"This needs to be a fore-thought, not an afterthought," he said. "What makes the period of time so exciting is that the digital revolution offers an unprecedented opportunity to attack the challenges, and that has never existed before. If we are in this type of position where technology is delivering the opportunity for solutions that has plagued individuals for centuries and we fumble the ball, shame on us. We feel very passionate that the access to devices that use the networks is a priority."

Jason Abbruzzese contributed to this story.