The FCC voted Thursday to fine Air-Tel, LLC and IOU Acquisitions, Inc. a total of more than half a million dollars for providing wireless broadband-based GPS vehicle tracking services they were not licensed for.
Air-Tel and IOU hold authorizations to provide Radiolocation Services in the 3300-3650 MHz band. These services are generally radar-based and rely on the propagation properties of these frequencies to determine the position of an object for non-navigation purposes. Instead, the Commission said, the companies offered different wireless broadband-based GPS services that rely on satellite communications and wireless broadband, not radiolocation.
“It does not get much air-time, but one of the most important parts of this agency’s work on spectrum policy is enforcement,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel during the vote. “The most dynamic, innovative and data-driven spectrum policy does not amount to much if [licensees] do not comply with our rules.”
Rosenworcel said Air-Tel and IOU offered a different navigation service than what was allowed by their licenses. “They modified their equipment in ways that were not authorized under our rules. As a result, they increased the likelihood of interference to other licensees using the band and [who were] following the rules,” she explained.
After receiving a complaint, the FCC investigated and agents visited the companies’ joint facility in Denver, Colorado. The Enforcement Bureau then issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture in 2018.
The case progressed to a Forfeiture Order, and that’s what Commissioners voted on 4-0. Air-Tel, LLC and IOU Acquisitions, Inc. were fined $327,290 and $207,290 respectively. Both companies have stopped operating on the licenses in question.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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