FCC Cracks Down on ISPs For Not Filing Broadband Data
National Telecom failed to submit broadband data three times in two years, bureau said.
Ari Bertenthal
WASHINGTON, September 12, 2024 – The Federal Communications Commission is cracking down on Internet providers that withhold information on where they are providing service.
Nine companies received Notices of Apparent Liability from the agency’s Enforcement Bureau for failing to provide data about broadband internet access service, an apparent first time that companies have been proposed to be held liable for failing to provide data about their broadband internet access service.
ISP National Telecom, LLC, was levied a proposed $30,000 fine for failing to provide the network location data required by federal law.
The other companies are Centex Web Access, Particle Communications Wholesale, BySky, Lobo Internet Services, Antelecom, SignalNet, Mobile Communications and Sonic Spectrum.
For National Telecom, the commission is considering the two apparent violations that occurred within the past 12 months. For each of these, the FCC applies a $15,000 base forfeiture per violation rule, totaling a $30,000 fine for the two violations.
The vast majority of those companies face the same proposed fine for the same two violations.
Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan Egal said that the company apparently violated its established data collection rules after failing to provide data about its broadband internet access service to the Commission’s Broadband Data Collection system on three occasions over the past two years after receiving multiple notices from the FCC.
The FCC uses this data to create coverage maps and assess the state of broadband coverage in the United States. The agency alleges that, without this data, the efforts of the Commission and other policymakers to advance the deployment of broadband internet access services (BIAS) are hamstrung, thereby negatively impacting customers in underserved communities.
Based in Michigan, National Telecom provides facilities-based fixed BIAS and other services to businesses in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties. The company holds 40 FCC licenses in of microwave industrial and business pool licenses.
The legal framework for these fines falls under the Broadband DATA Act, which was passed in 2020, directing the FCC to ensure that broadband data is more easily disseminated. The FCC was further directed to collect service availability data to better accomplish this goal.
