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Radio News: Railroad company was also radio pirate

Aug 17, 2016 11:35 pm
If a group set up "more than a hundred wireless radio facilities" without any licenses, that might be a big deal? Turns out the Canadian Pacific Railway Company is the biggest pirate radio operator in the U.S., with the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announcing a $1,210,000 fine against the railroad company. Canadian Pacific got in trouble for setting up all those pirate studios, and for failing to obtain FCC authorizations for the transfer of control of thirty wireless radio licenses. “Wireless facilities are critical to the safe and efficient operation of our nation’s railways,” said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. “We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that the ownership and operation of all such facilities comply with the FCC’s licensing processes.” Canadian Pacific, which used to be called the Soo Line Corporation, found during an internal audit in 2015 the non-compliance with FCC licensing regulations, and they told the FCC. The railroad industry widely uses radio transmitting devices for voice and data transmissions, and the Soo Line Corporation had been constructing, relocating, modifying, and operating various unlicensed transmitters since 1979.