The FCC fined OSNET Wireless Corp. $20,000 for operating network equipment without a license and modifying that gear to operate in restricted portions of the 2300 MHz band. Last October, the Commission issued a Notice of Apparent Liability to the San Juan, Puerto Rico Wired Internet Service Provider (WISP). Having received no response, the FCC moved to affirm the forfeiture.
The issue came to the agency’s attention when a licensed wireless carrier in Puerto Rico complained. The carrier said a rooftop transmitter was causing harmful interference to its operations in the 2300 MHz Wireless Communications Service band.
Enforcement Bureau agents used direction-finding techniques to find the device. They spoke with OSNET corporate offices, where a representative of the company confirmed that it operated two Ubiquiti Rocket M2 and Ubiquiti devices. Both are intentional radiators. “Bureau personnel also observed that one Ubiquiti Device at a distant site operated as an access point, while the other Ubiquiti Device, located at the Transmitter Site, was configured to operate as a station (or client) of the distant Ubiquiti Device access point,” said the agency in the forfeiture notice. The OSNET representative confirmed the WISP provides wireless broadband internet service to a customer located at the transmitter site.
Bureau personnel said both Ubiquiti Devices were configured to operate between 2307-2327 MHz and configured to operate with the “licensed” country code, rather than the United States country code. They explained to OSNET the devices were operating in a restricted band. OSNET then reconfigured the devices so their country codes were properly set to the U.S. so both operated with a center frequency of 2457 MHz with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, which is permitted for unlicensed operations.
After that, the wireless carrier confirmed it was no longer receiving harmful interference to its WCS facilities near the transmitter site.
After the agency proposed the penalty last October, OSNET had 30 days to seek a reduction or pay the penalty. Since it didn’t respond to the notice, the Commission has given OSNET another 30 days to pay. Not doing so may result in the FCC turning over the case to the Justice Department for collection.
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