LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission has decided against putting the state’s public television network up for auction.

The Federal Communications Commission had set a Jan. 12 deadline for television stations to decide whether or not to participate in a national auction of the broadcast spectrum.

The goal of the auction is to free up space on the airwaves for use by wireless carriers. Stations have the option of moving to a lower portion of the spectrum or getting paid for going off the air.

A consultant told commission members in October that the FCC is unlikely to want stations in small markets such as Nebraska to pay anything close to the opening bid price, $320 million.

Commissioner Clay Smith says the study group concluded that the network was too valuable to the state.