Towers are licensed assets too

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The ownership of an antenna structure in Puerto Rico changed hands in January of 2012, but the new owner didn’t get around to informing the FCC until April. Not only is that against the rules, it carries a financial penalty as well.


The tower’s licensee is Hacienda San Eladio Inc. and the case refers to a tower located in Juncos PR.

The FCC, as is its habit, informed HSE that is was liable for a penalty due to its repeated and willful violation of the rule.

HSE tried to duck the fine, pleading that the failure was due to an oversight and that it was only a single oversight.

The FCC pointed out that licensees are responsible to know the rules, and further explained what repeated means: that the violation occurred day after day after day.

HSE suggested that its immediate response to an FCC notice of apparent liability on the matter also was a reason to cancel or reduce the fine. The FCC said that fixing a problem is not a behavior to be rewarded, it’s simply the performance of the responsibilities of a licensee.

The fine sticks: $4.5K.