The Federal Communications Commission terminated 402 paging applications and licenses held by MobileMedia Corp. because the company failed to build sites under the license terms, which require construction to be completed within a year.
MobileMedia said the FCC’s action to cancel the licenses and applications was consistent with the company’s proposal to the FCC of how to address its filing violations.
“We know there were some deliberate mistakes made” by the company, commented MobileMedia attorney Rick Bernthal, of the law firm Latham & Watkins in Washington D.C.
As such, MobileMedia suggested to the FCC-among other things-the licenses be terminated, said Bernthal.
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau deputy chief Rosalind Allen said canceling the licenses and applications follows FCC rules and implies nothing about the bureau’s investigation of MobileMedia’s misrepresentations of the construction of sites.
“If you don’t construct a station, we don’t really have to do anything, it automatically terminates,” said Allen.
MobileMedia licenses that were canceled were for sites not constructed within a year and which remain unconstructed today; sites that are constructed, but were not done so within a year; and pending applications to build stations within 40 miles of sites currently licensed and not built.
The 40-mile condition allows paging carriers to apply for licenses within 40 miles of existing stations, and was established as a form of relief during the paging freeze.
The FCC will allow MobileMedia to continue operating certain stations that have been canceled until its investigation is concluded, said Allen. The canceled applications and licenses will likely not be reassigned until auctions are put in place.
Several months ago, MobileMedia told the FCC it discovered errors in its filing of Form 489s, which paging carriers are required to submit when a station is completed. The company began its own investigation and submitted the findings to the commission.
Allen said the commission “hopes to make clear our intentions within the month,” regarding its investigation. Allen also said that competitor Paging Network Inc.’s petition for public disclosure of MobileMedia’s violations would be addressed in the same time frame.
