Straight Path to Pay FCC $100M for Squatting On 5G Spectrum
Jan 12, 2017, 10:56 AM by Eric M. Zeman
updated Jan 12, 2017, 1:38 PM
The FCC has fined Straight Path Communications $100 million for failing to deploy wireless service in accordance with spectrum license requirements. Straight Path is sitting on approximately 1,000 licenses for spectrum in the 39 GHz band, which will eventually be used for 5G. The company renewed its licenses several years ago by submitting falsified documentation that claimed it had installed wireless systems that were in fact never built. After an investigation, the FCC concluded that Straight Path has not made any real attempt to put its spectrum holdings to use. According to the Consent Decree, Straight Path has agreed to pay a $100 million fine, $15 million of which is due immediately. The company must also surrender 20% of its 39 GHz spectrum licenses immediately. Straight Path has to sell or surrender the remaining spectrum licenses within one year, or it will be subject to the remaining $85 million in fines. Moreover, Straight Path must give 20% of the proceeds of any spectrum license sales to the U.S. Treasury as an additional civil penalty. "Squatting on spectrum licenses without any meaningful effort to put them to good use in a timely manner is fundamentally inconsistent with the public good," said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. "Wireless spectrum is a scarce public resource. We expect every person or company that receives a spectrum license to put it to productive use."
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