FCC STEPS UP TOWER ENFORCEMENT, FOCUSES ON REPEAT OFFENDERS
LAS VEGAS - FCC is stepping up tower enforcement activities and is focusing field investigations on repeat offenders in order to use Enforcement Bureau’s field resources more efficiently, bureau Chief David Solomon said in NAB convention panel discussion here. Although patterns of violations will elicit greatest scrutiny from Commission investigators, Solomon said broadcasters and other wireless infrastructure operators that voluntarily disclosed violations might lessen FCC penalties.
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Barry Umansky, partner at Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease LLP, and former NAB deputy counsel and ex-FCC, endorsed Solomon’s assertion that companies that reported and then corrected violations often avoided more costly FCC judgement. “It’s better to fess up than to cover up,” he said. “Come clean and there will be a much happier ending.”
“My plea would be to do it right the first time,” said Jerold Jacobs, former FCC attorney and currently partner with Cohn & Marks. He also recommended that companies that rent tower facilities play more active role in determining whether tower owners are complying with FCC regulations. Broadcasters with tower leases “may be fined” under current rules, and “the forfeitures are very high,” he said.
Easiest way for broadcasters to draw themselves into license revocation or other enforcement proceedings is by making misrepresentations in technical and administrative paperwork filed with FCC, Solomon said. “Misrepresentation could be the biggest problem for you at the FCC,” he said. “If you're up front with us, if you come to us, if you're honest when we come to you, you could go a long way in avoiding what people sometimes refer to as ’the death penalty,’ which is a hearing to potentially revoke your license.”