FCC Unanimously Approves 2015 Regulatory Fee Orders
The FCC unanimously approved the creation of a regulatory fee category for satellite carriers in its 2015 rulemaking on regulatory fees, said a regulatory fee NPRM and order in Friday's Daily Digest. This corrects a “long-time imbalance“ in the treatment…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
of pay-TV carriers “that exempted two of the nation’s largest [multichannel video program distributor]s from contributing to the regulatory costs of the Media Bureau because they happened to be satellite operators,” said Commissioner Ajit Pai in a statement. The NPRM seeks comment on total proposed FY 2015 fees of $339.8 million. That breaks down to $21.3 million or 6.28 percent from International Bureau regulatees, $69.3 million or 20.4 percent from Wireless Bureau regulatees, $131.1 million (38.57 percent) from Wireline Bureau regulatees, and $118.1 million (34.75 percent) from the Media Bureau regulatees, the order said. The NPRM seeks comment on a request for relief from fee assessments by the Puerto Rico Broadcasters Association. Along with new fees for direct broadcast satellite, the order contains instruction for a new toll-free number fee requirement, and takes amateur radio vanity call signs and general mobile radio service off the fee schedule, the order said. It included in the rulemaking specifies when delinquent fee debt is transferred to the U.S. Treasury.