Cable ISP Fined $10,000 For Lying To FCC About Where It Offers Broadband (arstechnica.com) 42
An Internet service provider that admitted lying to the FCC about where it offers broadband will pay a $10,000 fine and implement a compliance plan to prevent future violations. ArsTechnica: Jefferson County Cable (JCC), a small ISP in Toronto, Ohio, admitted that it falsely claimed to offer fiber service in an area that it hadn't expanded to yet. A company executive also admitted that the firm submitted false coverage data to prevent other ISPs from obtaining government grants to serve the area. Ars helped expose the incident in a February 2023 article.
The FCC announced the outcome of its investigation on March 15, saying that Jefferson County Cable violated the Broadband Data Collection program requirements and the Broadband DATA Act, a US law, "in connection with reporting inaccurate information or data with respect to the Company's ability to provide broadband Internet access service." The FCC said: "To settle this matter, Jefferson County Cable agrees to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States Treasury. Jefferson County Cable also agrees to implement enhanced compliance measures. This action will help further the Commission's efforts to bridge the digital divide by having accurate data of locations where broadband service is available."
The FCC announced the outcome of its investigation on March 15, saying that Jefferson County Cable violated the Broadband Data Collection program requirements and the Broadband DATA Act, a US law, "in connection with reporting inaccurate information or data with respect to the Company's ability to provide broadband Internet access service." The FCC said: "To settle this matter, Jefferson County Cable agrees to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States Treasury. Jefferson County Cable also agrees to implement enhanced compliance measures. This action will help further the Commission's efforts to bridge the digital divide by having accurate data of locations where broadband service is available."
A whole $10,000 ? That'll teach them. (Score:5, Insightful)
For sure.
Re: (Score:2)
madbrain snorted:
For sure.
It's a tiny ISP in a small town, not Comcast or AT&T. I have little doubt that $10K will pack a non-trivial sting ...
Re: A whole $10,000 ? That'll teach them. (Score:2)
How small ?
Even if was a 1-man operation, $10k would not be highly consequential.
Re: (Score:2)
$10k seems low, but we don't know all the details.
If the fine was big enough to put them out of business, it would've reduced competition and made things worse for consumers.
This was a negotiated settlement, not a judicial decree. If the FCC had insisted on a bigger fine, it could've led to spending hundreds of thousands on a drawn-out lawsuit that made things worse for everyone. The non-monetary part of the settlement was likely that the FCC prioritized.
Re: (Score:2)
If they lied about it to keep other companies form getting grants they need fined out of business.
Re: (Score:2)
They need to add a couple more zeros to that fine.
$10,000 seems kind of low (Score:5, Insightful)
They admitted that they falsified information in order to prevent competition and they only got a $10,000 fine?
Re:$10,000 seems kind of low (Score:5, Interesting)
This is why they love being regulated entities.
High barrier to competition, no real penalties, no jail time for lawlessness.
Classic rent seeking and captured regulators.
Corruption for as far as the eye can see.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
you want all customers to get an $1 or an $10 fee added the bill to cover that fine?
Re: $10,000 seems kind of low (Score:1)
In a free market, companies get penalized by customers voting with their wallet. All the FCC and local governments have to do is stop regulating the market. The entire problem here is that companies need permission from the government to provide a service and the first company to provide said service will be granted a monopoly by the government. That is all sorts of screwed up.
Re: $10,000 seems kind of low (Score:4)
Infrastructure can't be free market because it's not realistic to run 15 copies of that physical infrastructure. One set of water pipes, one set of electric, gas etc.
The issue here is cable and internet haven't, until recently, been considered 'infrastructure'. Cities and towns contracted with a single provider to 'build' the network out with the promise of regulated monopoly to recoup costs. Not a bad concept but they didn't put an end date on it.
We need locally owned municipal systems, like the water, gas, electric for internet/tv etc. But it's tough to get there with, now megasize Verizon and Comcast, buying off state legislatures. (Ask people who their state level reps are and most don't know....entire portion of gov run by themeselves with little oversight)
In VA they literally made it illegal for municipal systems to offer service at a cost *below* any existing provider. And, require that municipal system to show financial plans showing profitability in year ONE.
Re: (Score:1)
Nobody would install 15 copies of the physical infrastructure, there would be a first mover and that company in a free market would have incentives to rent out their infrastructure to competitors as the threat of someone installing a now better (through incrementally improved technology) infrastructure which would eliminate the first mover out of the market.
Re: $10,000 seems kind of low (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Competitors, as I said, learn 2 read.
Re: $10,000 seems kind of low (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Which is why free markets don't work.
Regulation is insufficient. Nationalization is the real answer.
At least I live where there's municipal broadband. It's cheaper and faster than the for-profit companies, and the only people making money from it are the workers who install and maintain it.
Socialism works!
Re: (Score:3)
Socialism works!
Socialism often works better than capitalism for services that are natural monopolies, such as utilities.
Socialism can also work when there is asymmetrical information and power, such as medical insurance.
Socialism doesn't work well in other areas. I visited Eastern Europe and the PRC in the 1980s, and I can say with great certainty that you don't want the government to run your grocery store.
Re: (Score:1)
I don't see the difference between a food supply and a utility, if the government can't do well in the 'bare necessities' (food, shelter) then the advancements on top of that (power, phone etc) can't be any better.
Re: (Score:2)
When corp's only purpose is to make themselves money...and are basically immune to penalties like this, it's time to change how they are operated.
That's it? (Score:4, Interesting)
How about making them offer fiber in the area they claimed they did. Force them to spend money to do what they lied about doing. Also, no government (i.e. taxpayer) money until they do.
10 grand isn't a penalty, even for a small ISP. You have to make them wince to be effective and send a message.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe they are leaving stuff out - like $10k/day/address that should be serviced?
Re: (Score:2)
Yup, they're way off. I'm thinking $1K/month/address not served from the time when service was claimed to when it is established.
The worst part of all of this is that you also hear stories about people spending $30K and up to get fibre service to their homes that are near the service area (and then they offer it at regular rates to everyone else on the street).
I'm guessing that the $10K fine is the most they're allowed to charge under the regulation in question, which is ridiculous.
Re: (Score:2)
This is how a non-corrupt system would work.
Meanwhile the little guy gets screwed and the regulators and providers rake in big paychecks.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
10 grand isn't a penalty, even for a small ISP.
Their HQ resembles a stretched shack. Seen ma and pa operations bigger than this.
You have to make them wince to be effective and send a message.
While these guys are obviously no angels personally rather see the messages sent to bigger fish.
Riveting (Score:2)
Riveting.
Message Received (Score:5, Insightful)
The FCC had an opportunity to send a real message to other ISPs that are lying about coverage area. Instead, the message received is that this will be nothing but an accounting error when caught. It's time to do something about these scumbag communications companies. They cheat and lie because they can get away with it. The FCC is a fucking joke.
& just how much did they pocket in federal gra (Score:2)
Hunting bigger game (Score:2)
Cable companies and telcos have been lying about (or misrepresenting) Internet services for years, and worse. Yet some little company in Ohio takes the fall? Please.
Re: (Score:2)
"Take one for the team, Butters!"
Re: Hunting bigger game (Score:1)
That is exactly how the FCC operates, they have 1500 employees, they go after about 100 companies annually (that is $1.5M of tax payer money spent for a $10k fine on salaries alone), mostly small businesses that have no way of defending themselves against the best attorney bureau in the area which the FCC contracts out to. Then they make big news articles about a $10k fine on what cost the tax payer probably $2-3M to pursue. Meanwhile their entire leadership is a revolving door of big companies to which the
Do AT&T Next! (Score:2)
AT&T has been stating that they offer fiber (up to 5 Gbps) in my neighborhood since around 2018 (surprise surprise! A year after Google announced they'll start rolling out here, but still no show) according to , but in fact they don't have anything but ADSL2 service (up to 65 Mbps, for $55 USD!) anywhere on this 5 mile stretch of road.
Re: Do AT&T Next! (Score:2)
If this were comcast (Score:2)
The fine would be in the trillions.
Re: (Score:2)
The fine would be in the trillions.
Not a chance. This would never happen to Comcast. Not because they don't lie but because they have the money and political experience to ensure they are never taken to task for their lies. Or if they are, the fine would be a rounding error on Comcast's profits.
A good start (Score:2)
Now do this to bigger ISPs, and eventually work your way up to Comcast/Xfinity and Verizon, for taking hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a federal program for rural broadband, then lobbying the government to change the definition of broadband to include ASDL (so they could "give broadband" to areas without replacing aging copper lines).
Windstream/Kinetic should get sued too (Score:2)
Punish the shareholders. (Score:2)
The people who benefit the most from an organization's actions should also bear the most responsibility.