The Enforcement Bureau (EB) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) has issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture of $100,000 against LTD Broadband LLC (LTD) for prohibited communications during the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I Auction (Auction 904), and for failing to report the prohibited communications in a timely manner. During the Auction 904 quiet period, LTD hired an investment agent named RJM & Company, LLC (RJM) to raise capital. LTD did not follow the Commission’s advice and reminders, however, to take the “appropriate steps” to prevent a third party from becoming a “conduit for prohibited communications to other applicants,” such as setting up a firewall or entering into a non-disclosure agreement. RJM, in turn, communicated with Cox Communications about LTD’s bidding and plans, and sought capital investment from Cox related to LTD’s proposed RDOF deployment. Consequently, EB concluded that LTD apparently violated section 1.21002(b) of the FCC’s rules by “willfully and repeatedly engaging in prohibited communications of its bidding, bidding strategies, and bidding results.”
