Are these licenses in perpetuity, or a fixed period? Can they in turn sell them? If permanent and they can sell them, then they are selling the airways, and that's not regulating, it's selling. OTOH, if they are for fixed periods and they can't sell them, but must return them to the government if they don't use them, then they are regulating.
“If permanent and they can sell them, then they are selling the airways, and that’s not regulating, it’s selling.”
You’re making an awful lot of assumptions without having (a) read the applicable provisions of the Constitution, (b) read the federal rules and regulations pertaining to this process and (c) read the applications for the license that each bidder will have to complete. I suggest you do this before issuing pronouncements of what is “selling” and what is “regulating.”
As a transactional attorney whose job it is to research and draft complicated documents, I’m uneasy with those who arrive at conclusions such as yours without having done the requisite research. You’re not going to get a complete, accurate answer that is dispositive of the issue on a message board/forum website.