Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture of ) ) PINPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, INC. ) ) File No. 920EF0022 Licensee of Paging and Radiotelephone Service ) Stations WRD356 (McCook, Nebraska), ) WRV253 (Trenton, Nebraska), WQZ619 ) (Moorefield, Nebraska), WSI691 (Imperial, ) Nebraska), and KKB694 (McCook, Nebraska) ) NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE Adopted: March 29, 1999 Released: March 30, 1999 By the Chief, Enforcement and Consumer Information Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau: I. Introduction 1. This is a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the Act), and Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, against PinPoint Communications, Inc (PinPoint), licensee of the following stations in the Paging and Radiotelephone Service: WRD356 (McCook, Nebraska), WRV253 (Trenton, Nebraska), WQZ619 (Moorefield, Nebraska), WSI691 (Imperial, Nebraska), and KKB694 (McCook, Nebraska). For the reasons that follow, we find that PinPoint apparently acquired control of these licenses without obtaining the requisite authority from the Commission, in apparent violation of Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 22.137 of the Commission's Rules. We conclude that PinPoint is apparently liable for a forfeiture in the amount of $10,000. II. Background 2. On April 9, 1998, an application was filed for the Commission's consent to assign the stations referenced above from Mid-State Systems, Inc. (Mid-State) to PinPoint. The cover letter accompanying the application stated: "PinPoint Communications, Inc. has recently purchased the assets of Mid-State Systems, Inc. and are [sic] in the process of transferring everything into our name." The application was resubmitted with microfiche copies on July 28, 1998. PinPoint has orally informed the Commission that the acquisition of Mid- State's assets to PinPoint was completed on October 8, 1997, that Mid-State no longer exists as a corporation, and that PinPoint controlled and operated Mid-State's stations after that date. The application for the Commission's authority to assign the licenses from Mid-State to PinPoint remains pending. III. Discussion 3. Section 310(d) of the Communications Act provides in relevant part: No construction permit or station license, or any rights thereunder, shall be transferred, assigned, or disposed of in any manner, voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, or by transfer of control of any corporation holding such permit or license, except upon application to the Commission and upon finding by the Commission that the public interest, convenience, and necessity will be served thereby. Similarly, Section 22.137 of the Commission's Rules stated in pertinent part: Authorizations in the Public Mobile Services may be assigned by the licensee to another party, voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, or by transfer of control of a licensee holding such authorizations, only upon approval by the FCC. Based upon our review of PinPoint's submissions, we find that when PinPoint acquired Mid-State's assets on October 8, 1997, PinPoint apparently acquired control of Mid-State's licenses in apparent violation of Section 310(d) of the Communications Act and Section 22.137 of the Commission's Rules. 4. Each day of a continuing violation is considered a separate violation for purposes of computing a forfeiture. The guidelines contained in the Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement, which became effective on October 14, 1997, specify a base forfeiture amount of $8,000 for an "[u]nauthorized substantial transfer of control." The guidelines, however, permit the Commission to issue a higher or lower forfeiture than provided in the guidelines. Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act requires the Commission to consider "the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation, and, with respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and such other matters as justice may require." In this case, taking into consideration all of the factors required by Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act, including, but not limited to, the nature of the stations in question, PinPoint's service area, and PinPoint's voluntary disclosure of its violations to the Commission, we believe it is appropriate to reduce the amount of PinPoint's proposed forfeiture from $8,000 per station to $2,000 for each of the five stations, for a total forfeiture of $10,000. IV. Conclusion and Ordering Clauses 5. ACCORDINGLY IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, PinPoint Communications, Inc., is hereby NOTIFIED of its APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for willfully and repeatedly violating Section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 22.137 of the Commission's Rules. 6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules, that within thirty days of the release of this Notice, PinPoint SHALL PAY the full amount of the proposed forfeiture or SHALL FILE a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed forfeiture. 7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that copies of this Notice shall be sent, by Certified Mail/Return Receipt Requested, to PinPoint, care of Roger Hoffman, Executive Vice President, PinPoint Communications, Inc., 611 Patterson Street, P.O. Box 490, Cambrdge, Nebraska 69022. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Catherine W. Seidel Chief, Enforcement and Consumer Information Division Wireless Telecommunications Bureau