A public interest group will ask federal regulators today to reconsider a decision to settle a case in which Enron failed to seek proper approval for the transfer of wireless licenses.
Last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accused Enron of failing to get the transfer approvals or the issuance of new licences for the company or its partners to use airwaves for intra-company communications needed to operate its gas pipelines and other industrial facilities.
The United Church of Christ, a public interest group, asked the full four-member FCC to review the enforcement bureau's agreement with Enron, now in bankruptcy proceedings, for the company to pay $7,500 to close the investigation.
"It is inconceivable that further investigation would have turned up nothing, as the cascading daily disclosures of Enron's company-wide ethical corruption make clear," the group said in a brief to be filed today.
"If the Enron order stands, regulatees will know that their risk for 149 violations is just a $7,500 'voluntary payment'," said the group, which has often intervened on FCC issues.
The organisation asked the four sitting FCC commissioners to vacate the settlement, release details of Enron's actions and, if the details warrant, resume the investigation.
An FCC spokesman declined to comment.