UPDATE The FCC has finally settled with AT&T in a fixed wireless case. The $450,000 settlement resolves a probe into whether the carrier operated fixed wireless stations without authorization and without filing the proper documents to modify the licenses, according to the Commission.
What’s at issue are the wireless connections AT&T uses to connect between cell towers. Common carrier microwave stations are generally used to support long-haul backbone connections or to connect points on the network that can’t be connected via wireline or fiber because of cost or terrain.
Starting in 2012, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau began looking into AT&T. In 2014, the company told the agency it discovered inconsistencies between the licensed frequencies and the actual frequencies a large number of fixed microwave stations were operating on by AT&T subsidiaries New Cingular Wireless PCS and AT&T Mobility Puerto Rico.
The Commission said AT&T lagged on reviewing the licenses acquired from Verizon; The result was in many cases the subsidiaries operated them on the wrong frequencies from 2009 to 2012.
The bureau investigated about 250 AT&T stations. In January 2015, the bureau proposed a $650,000 fine, saying the violations continued from three to five years. “AT&T, a sophisticated Commission licensee with an extensive telecommunications portfolio, must conduct a more timely technical review of newly acquired licenses. Delay of up to five years to correct filings from acquisitions simply is not acceptable,” said the agency at the time. The bureau said it took the action to prevent unauthorized radio operations from potentially interfering with authorized radio communications.
To end the litigation, both sides reached a settlement. AT&T admitted to the violations and will pay the fine. In addition, the carrier will implement a compliance plan to help prevent a reoccurrence.
“We expect every person or company that receives a license from the Commission will operate within the parameters of that authorization,” said FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc. “Any licensee who operates outside those parameters threatens the integrity of communications networks, increases the risk of harmful interference, and breaks the law.”
October 24, 2016
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