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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
)
In the Matter of )
Nevada Yellow Cab Corporation DBA ) File Number: EB-08-LA-0315
Yellow Cab
) NAL/Acct. No. 200932900001
Licensee of Station KNNU518
) FRN: 0016127169
Las Vegas, Nevada
)
))
FORFEITURE ORDER
Adopted: December 9, 2009 Released: December 11, 2009
By the Regional Director, Western Region, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Forfeiture Order ("Order"), we issue a monetary forfeiture in
the amount of six thousand dollars ($6,000) to Nevada Yellow Cab
Corporation DBA Yellow Cab ("Nevada Yellow Cab"), licensee of Private
Land Mobile radio station KNNU518, in Las Vegas, Nevada, for willful
and repeated violation of Section 1.903(a) of the Commission's Rules
("Rules"). On December 19, 2008, the Enforcement Bureau's Los Angeles
Office issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture ("NAL") in
the amount of $12,000 to Nevada Yellow Cab for operating station
KNNU518 on 152.375 MHz and 157.635 MHz, frequencies not authorized by
its license, and by operating station KNNU518 from a location not
authorized by its license. In this Order, we consider Nevada Yellow
Cab's arguments that it made a good faith effort to comply with Rules
prior to the inspection by the Los Angeles Office, and that it has a
history of compliance with the Commission's Rules.
II. BACKGROUND
2. On October 7, 2008, in response to a complaint alleging interference
and unlicensed operation on 152.375 MHz and 157.635 MHz in the Las
Vegas area, an agent from the Los Angeles Office used mobile direction
finding techniques to locate the offending radio station operating on
152.375 and 157.635 MHz at 5225 West Post Road, Las Vegas, Nevada,
with coordinates of 36-o 04' 05.5" north latitude and 115-o 12' 39.5"
west longitude ("West Post Road Site"), an office of Nevada Yellow
Cab. At the time of the investigation, Nevada Yellow Cab was
authorized to transmit from 2535 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas,
Nevada with coordinates of 36-o 08' 32.9" north latitude and 115-o 09'
022" west longitude ("Las Vegas Boulevard Site"), as well as 4740
South Valley View Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada, with coordinates of
36-o 06' 16.9" north latitude and 115-o 12' 48" west longitude ("South
Valley View Boulevard Site") under station authorization KNNU518.
Further, under KNNU518 Nevada Yellow Cab was authorized to operate on
152.330 MHz and 157.590 MHz only.
3. On October 8, 2008, the Los Angeles agent again used mobile direction
finding techniques to locate radio operations on 152.375 MHz and
157.635 MHz being transmitted from Nevada Yellow Cab's location at the
West Post Road Site.
4. On October 9, 2008, the Los Angeles agent again used mobile direction
finding techniques to locate radio operations on 152.375 and 157.635
MHz being transmitted from Nevada Yellow Cab's location at the West
Post Road Site. The agent then conducted an inspection of KNNU518. The
agent interviewed the chief executive officer and system engineer for
Nevada Yellow Cab. Both individuals acknowledged that they were aware
that the license for frequencies 152.375 and 157.635 MHz had expired
several years prior but believed that Nevada Yellow Cab was working on
having the license re-instated. In addition, both individuals
acknowledged that the relocation of their transmitter site to the
current location at West Post Road Site was operating a radio station
from an unauthorized location. However, the managers stated that they
believed that Nevada Yellow Cab had contracted with a company to
secure proper FCC authorization to relocate their radio operations,
but that the attempts were not successful.
5. On October 27, 2008, a fax was sent to the Los Angeles Office from
Nevada Yellow Cab detailing its efforts, since January 2006, to change
its authorizations to reflect the 5225 West Post Road site. These
efforts included discussions with consultants; however, these
discussions were stopped in October 2007, and did not resume until
April and June 2008. A review of Commission databases revealed that an
application to modify the KNNU518 license to include frequencies
152.375 MHz and 157.635 MHz, and to change the transmitter location to
the West Post Road Site, was filed with the Commission on October 16,
2008, after the inspection by the FCC agent. This application was
subsequently granted on November 14, 2008.
6. On December 19, 2008, the Los Angeles Office issued a NAL in the
amount of $12,000 to Nevada Yellow Cab. In the NAL, the Los Angeles
Office found that Nevada Yellow Cab apparently willfully and
repeatedly violated Section 1.903(a) of the Rules by operating on
frequencies not authorized on the KNNU518 license, and by operating
KNNU518 from a location not authorized by its license. Nevada Yellow
Cab filed a response ("Response") to the NAL on January 16, 2009. In
its Response, Nevada Yellow Cab argues that it made good faith efforts
to comply with the Rules, and that it has a history of compliance with
the Rules.
III. DISCUSSION
7. The proposed forfeiture amount in this case was assessed in accordance
with Section 503(b) of the Act, Section 1.80 of the Rules, and The
Commission's Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of Section 1.80
of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture Guidelines. In examining
the Response, Section 503(b) of the Act requires that the Commission
take into account 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 other
such matters as justice may require.
8. Section 1.903(a) of the Rules requires that stations in the Wireless
Radio Services must be used and operated only in accordance with the
rules applicable to their particular service, and with a valid
authorization granted by the Commission. On October 7, 8, and 9, 2008,
a Los Angeles agent located transmissions from KNNU518 on 152.375 MHz
and 157.635 MHz emanating from Nevada Yellow Cab's West Post Road Site
in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the time of the investigation, KNNU518 was
not authorized to operate on 152.375 MHz or 157.635 MHz. Additionally,
KNNU518 was not authorized to operate from the West Post Road Site.
The calculated distance separating the KNNU518 point of operation from
the West Post Road Site to the South Valley View Boulevard Site was
greater than 2.5 miles (specifically, a difference of approximately
131 seconds of latitude and approximately 9 seconds of longitude). For
the Las Vegas Boulevard South Site authorized on the KNNU518 license,
the calculated distance separating this location from the point of
operation at the West Post Road Site was greater than 5.9 miles
(specifically, a difference of approximately 267 seconds of latitude
and approximately 197 seconds of longitude). Nevada Yellow Cab
management was aware that radio station KNNU518 was operating on
152.375 MHz and 157.635 MHz, and acknowledged that the current license
for KNNU518 did not allow operation from the West Post Road Site.
9. In its Response, Nevada Yellow Cab does not dispute the facts recited
in the NAL. Instead it argues that it made numerous attempts to amend
its license and had contracted with an outside company in 2006 to
ensure that the required amendments to the license were made. When
Nevada Yellow Cab discovered in April 2008 that its radio operation
was not properly licensed, it terminated its relationship with the
company it was dealing with and in June 2008 contracted with another
company which had commenced frequency coordination prior to the Los
Angeles agent's inspection. This company ultimately succeeded in
coordinating and filing an application with the Commission, however,
no application was filed until after the Los Angeles agent's
inspection on October 9, 2008. Reductions of proposed forfeitures
based on good faith efforts to comply generally involve situations
where violators demonstrated that they initiated measures to correct
or remedy violations, or that they had established compliance programs
in place, prior to the Commission's involvement. We find that Nevada
Yellow Cab's efforts prior to the inspection by the Los Angeles agent
warrant a substantial good faith reduction. Consequently, we reduce
the proposed forfeiture to $8,400.
10. Nevada Yellow Cab also appears to contend that it has a history of
overall compliance with the Commission's Rules. We have reviewed our
records and we concur. Consequently, we further reduce the proposed
forfeiture to $6,000. Nevada Yellow Cab also states that its
operations are now in compliance with it licenses. The Commission has
stated in the past that a licensee is expected to correct errors when
they are brought to the licensee's attention and that such corrections
are not grounds for a downward adjustment in the forfeiture.
11. We have examined the Response to the NAL pursuant to the statutory
factors above, and in conjunction with the Forfeiture Policy
Statement. As a result of our review, we conclude that Nevada Yellow
Cab willfully and repeatedly violated Section 1.903(a) of the Rules.
Considering the entire record and the factors listed above, we find
that reduction of the proposed forfeiture to $6,000 is warranted.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
12. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended ("Act"), and Sections 0.111,
0.311 and 1.80(f)(4) of the Commission's Rules, Nevada Yellow Cab
Corporation DBA Yellow Cab IS LIABLE FOR A MONETARY FORFEITURE in the
amount of $6,000 for willfully and repeatedly violating Section
1.903(a) of the Rules.
13. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the manner provided for in
Section 1.80 of the Rules 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. Payment of the forfeiture must be made
by check or similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal
Communications Commission. The payment must include the NAL/Account
Number and FRN Number referenced above. Payment by check or money
order may be mailed to Federal Communications Commission, P.O. Box
979088, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000. Payment by overnight mail may be
sent to U.S. Bank - Government Lockbox #979088, SL-MO-C2-GL, 1005
Convention Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63101. Payment by wire transfer may be
made to ABA Number 021030004, receiving bank TREAS/NYC, and account
number 27000001. For payment by credit card, an FCC Form 159
(Remittance Advice) must be submitted. When completing the FCC Form
159, enter the NAL/Account number in block number 23A (call sign/other
ID), and enter the letters "FORF" in block number 24A (payment type
code). Requests for full payment under an installment plan should be
sent to: Chief Financial Officer -- Financial Operations, 445 12th
Street, S.W., Room 1-A625, Washington, D.C. 20554. Please contact
the Financial Operations Group Help Desk at 1-877-480-3201 or Email:
ARINQUIRIES@fcc.gov with any questions regarding payment procedures.
14. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall be sent by First
Class Mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to Nevada
Yellow Cab Corporation DBA Yellow Cab at its address of record.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Rebecca L. Dorch
Regional Director, Western Region
Enforcement Bureau
47 C.F.R. S: 1.903(a).
Along with station KNNU518, Nevada Yellow Cab is also the licensee of
stations KNNU516, WPJH312 and WNCN965 in the Las Vegas area. At the time
of the inspections, none of these licenses authorized Nevada Yellow Cab to
operate on 152.375 MHz and 157.635 MHz. Additionally, none of these
licenses authorized operations from 5225 West Post Road, Las Vegas,
Nevada.
See File No. 0003612392.
Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, NAL/Acct. No. 200932900001
(Enf. Bur., Western Region, Los Angeles Office, released December 19,
2008).
47 U.S.C. S: 503(b).
47 C.F.R. S: 1.80.
12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999).
47 U.S.C. S: 503(b)(2)(E).
In the NAL, the Los Angeles Office stated that Section 1.947(a) of the
Rules, 47 C.F.R. S: 1.947(a), requires that all major modifications, as
defined in Section 1.929 of the Rules, require prior Commission approval.
The NAL referenced Section 1.929(d)(1)(i) of the Rules, 47 C.F.R. S:
1.929(d)(1)(i), which defines one of the major actions as any change in
transmit antenna location by more than 5 seconds in latitude or longitude
for fixed point-to-point facilities. We note that Section 1.929(d) of the
Rules applies to microwave, aural broadcast auxiliary, and television
broadcast services. Section 1.929(c)(4) of the Rules, 47 C.F.R. S:
1.929(c)(4), applies to stations in the Private Land Mobile Radio
Services, such as KNNU518, and defines as a major change "any change in
the authorized location or number of base stations fixed, control, except
for deletions of one or more such stations . . . ." 47 C.F.R. S:
1.929(c)(4)(v). Therefore, the Los Angeles Office was correct in its
determination that the operation of station KNNU518 at the West Post Road
Site would be considered a major change pursuant to Section 1.929 of the
Rules.
See Radio One Licenses, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 15964 (2003), recon. denied, 18
FCC Rcd 25481 (2003).
See Tidewater Communications, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 5524, 5525 (EB 2003).
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. 17 FCC Rcd 21866, 21871-76 (2002); see also
Rama Communications, Inc., 23 FCC Rcd 18209, 18211 (EB 2008) ("[W]here
lapses in compliance occur, neither the negligent acts nor omissions of
station employees or agents, nor the subsequent remedial actions
undertaken by the licensee, excuse or nullify the licensee's rule
violation").
47 U.S.C. S: 503(b), 47 C.F.R. S:S: 0.111, 0.311, 1.80(f)(4), 1.903(a).
47 U.S.C. S: 504(a).
Federal Communications Commission DA 09-2574
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Federal Communications Commission DA 09-2574