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Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Elmont Trans Med Corporation ) File No. EB-00-TS-
221
1305 Hempstead Turnpike )
Elmont, New York 11003 )
)
Licensee of Station WIL722 )
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Adopted: July 31, 2001 Released: August 2,
2001
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order (``Order''), we
grant in part a petition for reconsideration filed February
22, 2001 by Atlantic Telecommunications (``Atlantic'').
Atlantic seeks reconsideration of the January 23, 2001, letter
decision of the Deputy Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division, which denied Atlantic's request that a Notice of
Violation and Order to Discontinue Unauthorized Operation be
issued to Elmont Trans Med Corporation (``Elmont''), licensee
of Station WIL722.
2. In a complaint filed March 8, 2000, Atlantic alleged
that Elmont did not timely construct its station and was
operating at an unauthorized site in violation of Commission
rules. The complaint alleged that Elmont's failure to timely
construct was verified by monitoring of the shared frequency
pair on which Station WIL722 is licensed to operate1 conducted
by New York Radio Service, Inc. (``New York Radio'') between
January 13, 1996 and February 1, 1997, and by subsequent
conversations with Elmont personnel. The complaint further
alleged that in December 1998, New York Radio determined
through subsequent monitoring that Elmont had placed Station
WIL722 into operation, and that in September 1999, New York
Radio determined through direction finding techniques that
Elmont was operating Station WIL722 at an unauthorized
location in the vicinity of Queens Boulevard, Queens, New
York. The January 23, 2001, letter decision noted that in
March 2000, after Atlantic's complaint was filed, Elmont
contacted the FCC's New York Field Office to advise the FCC
that its radio equipment associated with Station WIL722 had
been inadvertently placed in operation at Queens Boulevard,
the location for Elmont's other station, WIL708. The New York
Field Office instructed Elmont to move Station WIL722 to its
authorized location in order to correct the problem. On
August 10, 2000, the New York Field Office verified that
Elmont was operating Station WIL722 at its authorized location
in North Shore Towers, Queens, New York. Based on this
information, the letter decision concluded that no enforcement
action was warranted.
3. In its petition for reconsideration, Atlantic argues
that the letter decision incorrectly concluded that no
enforcement action was warranted. Atlantic states that it
provided extensive evidence that Station WIL722 was not
operational for more than a year and that when it did operate
it did so at an unauthorized location. Citing Section 90.157
of the Commission's Rules (``Rules''),2 Atlantic states that
it appears that Station WIL722 permanently discontinued
operations and that its associated license cancelled
automatically.
4. Section 1.903(a) of the Rules provides, in pertinent
part, that stations in the Wireless Radio Services must be
used and operated only in accordance with a valid
authorization granted by the Commission.3 Elmont admitted
that it placed Station WIL722 into operation at Queens
Boulevard, rather than its authorized location in North Shore
Towers. We admonish Elmont for its operation of Station
WIL722 from an unauthorized location in violation of Section
1.903(a).4
5. Whether Elmont's license cancelled automatically in
1996 or 1997 due to discontinuance of operation under Section
90.157 of the Rules is a separate licensing issue, which we
are hereby referring to the Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau. Because we are referring the license cancellation
issue to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, we conclude
that no enforcement action on this issue is warranted at this
time.
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 405 of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. � 405,
and Section 1.106 of the Rules, 47 C.F.R. � 1.106, that the
petition for reconsideration filed February 22, 2001, by
Atlantic Telecommunications IS GRANTED to the extent indicated
herein and IS OTHERWISE DENIED.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Elmont Trans Med Corporation
IS ADMONISHED for operating Station WIL722 from an
unauthorized location in violation of Section 1.903(a) of the
Rules.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order be sent
Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel for
Atlantic Telecommunications, Marilyn S. Mense, Esq., Lukas,
Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, 1111 19th Street, NW, 12th Floor,
Washington, D.C. 20036, and to Elmont Trans Med Corporation,
1305 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont, New York 11003.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 Station WIL722 is licensed to operate on frequency pair
472/475.1625 MHz. Atlantic is also licensed to operate on
frequency pair 472/475.1625 MHz under call sign WPNS833.
2 Section 90.157 provides that a station that has not operated
for more than one year is considered to have permanently
discontinued operations and that a station license cancels
automatically upon permanent discontinuance of operations. 47
C.F.R. � 90.157.
3 47 C.F.R. � 1.903(a).
4 To the extent that Atlantic seeks imposition of a forfeiture
for this violation, we note that the one-year statute of
limitations in Section 503(b)(6)(B) of the Communications Act of
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. � 503(b)(6)(B), precludes imposition
of a forfeiture against Elmont at this time.