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+--- Thread: Verizon caught lying about spectrum deployment (/showthread.php?tid=1856)
Verizon caught lying about spectrum deployment - dmcowen674 - 03-01-2018
3-1-2018
Verizon caught lying about spectrum deployment
A shell organization now owned by Verizon named Straight Path has been penalized $614 million by the FCC for spectrum squatting.
Investigators found that Straight Path hoovered up valuable 39 GHz spectrum--then not only didn't actually do anything with it, but went to great lenghths to mislead regulators into thinking they actually were.
The investigation found that Straight Path even erected temporary hardware to mislead the government.
Straight Path's website insists that Straight Path is (was?) a "forward thinking communications asset company" that specializes in "maximizing the value of assets such as millimeter bandwidth licenses for 5G networks." But investigators ultimately found that the company was little more than a hollow shell, and didn't actually do anything outside of hoovering up valuable spectrum for later sale once its value had appreciated.
In a new statement by the FCC this week, the agency notes the $614 Million total penalty is the "largest civil penalty ever paid to the U.S. Treasury to resolve a Commission investigation."
That said, even with the fine, Verizon still managed to score a big win here. Given that Verizon reported $126 billion in operating revenue in 2017, and the value of the spectrum they acquired for $3.1 billion, the company still managed to come out well ahead--with ample new spectrum to show for it.
RE: Verizon caught lying about spectrum deployment - dmcowen674 - 03-01-2018
So even though they lied and paid a hefty fine they still come out profitting billions of dollars and still get to keep the frequencies.