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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
CARMELITA T. GOSSARD ) File No. EB-00-TS-044
d/b/a AA BEEP )
Licensee of Paging Station KNKK662 ) NAL/Acct. No. X3210-
003
Cudjoe Key, Florida )
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Adopted: March 14, 2001 Released: March 16,
2001
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order (``Order''), we
deny the petition of Carmelita T. Gossard, d/b/a AA Beep (``AA
Beep'') for reconsideration1 and affirm the Forfeiture Order2
issued against AA Beep for willful violation of Section 301 of
the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (``the Act''), 3 and
Section 22.3 of the Commission's Rules (``the Rules'').4 The
noted violations involve AA Beep's operation of a paging system
without Commission authorization between April 1 and October 8,
1999.
2. On October 10, 2000, the Enforcement Bureau released a
Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (``NAL'') in the
amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to AA Beep.5 AA Beep
did not file a response. On January 22, 2001, the Enforcement
Bureau released its Forfeiture Order affirming the forfeiture
proposed by the NAL. AA Beep filed its petition for
reconsideration on February 5, 2001. The petition, in pertinent
part, asserts:
I am in receipt of your letter . . .
containing allegations that I (willfully)
violated FCC rules by operating my Paging
Facility KNKK-662 after the licensed
authority had expired on April 1, 1999, and
that I continued this operation until finally
the license was again authorized in October
1999.
This allegation is totally and completely
false and I am respectfully asking the
Commission to drop these charges and any
fines imposed by this assumption.
Contrary to this, I was forced to change-out
my pagers and rent my previous customers on a
paging system named (API) who later bec[a]me
(TSR) which has now gone bankrupt, leaving me
with their pagers that I had purchased from
them, leasing service on their paging system.
Now I don't even have this minimal income.
And (API) was one of the largest paging
companies in the U.S., I have been told.
3. Between the expiration of its license for station
KNKK662 on April 1, 1999, and the grant of its renewal
application, AA Beep had no authority to operate that station.
AA Beep filed, with its renewal application, a request for a
waiver of Section 1.949 of the Rules6 and for Special Temporary
Authority to continue operating Station KNKK662 during the
pendency of its renewal application. In that request, AA Beep
asserted that:
Disruption of service on this frequency would
cause hardship to existing subscribers since
this system has been operating many years, is
presently being used and provides needed
communications to businesses in an area that
is not located in a major metropolitan area
(emphasis added).
This assertion establishes that, although AA Beep may have later
terminated operation, as it now claims, it continued to operate
Station KNKK662 after the expiration of its license, in violation
of Section 301 of the Act and Section 22.3 of the Rules. We,
therefore, can find no basis for remission or mitigation of the
forfeiture and affirm the Forfeiture Order. Consistent with a
prior statement by the Commission,7 our forfeiture relates to the
period before AA Beep filed its renewal application.
4. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the manner
provided for in Section 1.80 of the Rules8 within 30 days of the
release of this Order. If the forfeiture is not paid within the
period specified, the case may be referred to the Department of
Justice for collection pursuant to Section 504(a) of the Act.9
Payment may be made by mailing a check or similar instrument,
payable to the order of the ``Federal Communications
Commission,'' to the Federal Communications Commission, P.O. Box
73482, Chicago, Illinois 60673-7482. The payment should note the
NAL/Acct. number referenced above. Requests for full payment
under an installment plan should be sent to Chief, Revenue and
Receivables Operations Group, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20554.10
5. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT this Order shall be sent, by
certified mail, return receipt requested, to Carmelita T.
Gossard, d/b/a AA Beep, 22824 Blue Gill Lane, Cudjoe Key, Florida
33042.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 AA Beep filed a statement in response to the Forfeiture
Order. Because there is no provision for responses to Forfeiture
Orders, we are treating AA Beep's filing as a petition for
reconsideration of the Forfeiture Order.
2 Carmelita T. Gossard, d/b/a AA Beep, DA 01-137 (Enf. Bur.
2001).
3 47 U.S.C. § 301.
4 47 C.F.R. § 22.3.
5 Carmelita T. Gossard, d/b/a AA Beep, 15 FCC Rcd 19808
(Enf. Bur. 2000).
6 47 C.F.R. § 1.949(a), which requires that renewal
applications in the Wireless Radio Services be filed no later
than the expiration date of the authorization for which the
renewal is sought.
7 See Biennial Regulatory Review -- Amendment of Parts 0, 1,
13, 22, 24, 26, 27, 80, 87, 90, 95, 97, and 101 of the
Commission's Rules to Facilitate the Development and Use of the
Universal Licensing System in the Wireless Telecommunications
Services, Memorandum Opinion and Order upon reconsideration, 14
FCC Rcd 11476, 11485 (1999).
8 47 C.F.R. § 1.80.
9 47 U.S.C. § 504(a).
10 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.