The FCC Enforcement Bureau and privately-owned Mobile Communications America, Inc. (MCA) made a deal to resolve an investigation into whether the company operated an expired radio license without authorization and failed to seek Commission approval before transferring control of several business radio licenses. MCA is a partner with Motorola, and offers voice, data and video services.
Under a Consent Decree, MCA admits it violated Commission rules and will pay a $100,000 civil penalty. MCA will also implement a compliance plan to avoid future occurrences.
In exchange, the FCC finds it’s in the public interest to adopt the Consent Decree and terminate the investigation. Because there’s no new evidence, the agency won’t schedule a hearing to question MCA’s basic qualifications to hold or obtain any Commission license or authorization.
The case began on February 28, 2021, when one of MCA’s subsidiaries, Mobile Communications of Hall, LLC (MCH), was dissolved, resulting in the pro forma assignment of two business radio licenses from MCH to MCA. On November 18, 2022, MCA closed the acquisition of two entities—Communications Electronics, Inc. and Communications Electronics of Virginia, LLC—that resulted in the transfer of six business radio licenses.
The FCC says MCA failed to notify the Commission of the 2021 pro forma assignment within 30 days of closing. It also says MCA failed to obtain prior authorization for the 2022 transfer of control of six business radio licenses.
Instead, MCA filed several applications through the Universal Licensing System seeking a waiver in 2023. Additionally, a private business radio license owned by MCA expired. The agency says MCA continued its operations under the expired license. MCA then filed an application for special temporary authority in September, 2023. The STA was granted under Call Sign WRYV884. That license was canceled in October, 2023, after MCA’s application for a permanent replacement license was granted.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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