The FCC today said it has reached a settlement with Sprint and Sprint’s partner Mobilitie regarding the improper completion of cell tower sites.
The FCC says the companies failed to complete the proper tower registration and environmental and historic impact reviews before building some cell sites. In order to settle the investigation, Sprint agreed to pay a fine of $10 million and Mobilitie agreed to pay a fine of $1.6 million to the U.S. Treasury.
In addition to the fines, both companies must improve their compliance procedures moving forward.
“The law was clear and it is vital that carriers and infrastructure companies alike never duck their responsibilities,” said Christopher Killion, acting deputy chief of the Enforcement Bureau.
“Companies must abide by the law as it stands whenever they are building infrastructure, operating wireless facilities.”
The enforcement action arrives after the FCC recently voted to reduce the amount of red tape carriers need to hurdle in order to put up new sites. All the major U.S. carriers are rushing to develop and deploy 5G networks, which will require more cell sites than are available today.
