Telecommunications provider AT&T has reached a settlement with the Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in connection with an investigation into the company’s operation of unauthorized wireless stations.
According to an Order issued by the Commission in September 2016, AT&T operated numerous common carrier fixed point-to-point microwave stations throughout the U.S. in a manner inconsistent with licenses that had been originally issued. The unauthorized operation reportedly centered on fixed microwave sites acquired by AT&T between 2009 and 2012. A multi-year investigation conducted by the Enforcement Bureau of approximately 250 individual sites determined that their operations were inconsistent with the parameters originally licensed for those sites.
In its settlement with the FCC, AT&T has agreed to pay a financial penalty of $450,000, and to implement a compliance plan to help ensure that sites included in future acquisitions are operating in accordance with their licensed parameters.
Read the complete text of the Commission’s Order in connection with the AT&T settlement.
