The FCC’s proposed regulatory fee structure for fiscal year 2005 ...
The FCC’s proposed regulatory fee structure for fiscal year 2005 creates “an enormous disparity” between fees paid by cable operators and those paid by DBS providers, NCTA said March 8. One of several communications groups commenting to the agency…
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about the fee structure, NCTA noted that cable and DBS “compete head-to-head for customers,” with DBS subscribership growing at double digit rates, while the fee structure treats them differently. Cable pays per subscriber, while DBS companies pay facility-based fees on their geostationary space stations, NCTA said: “And that facility-based fee, which has not increased as DBS subscribership has grown, is far smaller than the amount paid by cable operators.” Cingular Wireless questioned the FCC’s plan to assess commercial wireless carriers fees using data from the agency’s Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast (NRUF) form rather than carriers’ “actual subscriber counts, as revealed in their billing systems and reported in Securities and Exchange Commission financial filings, which is the most accurate source for such data.” XO Communications said the FCC has “improperly” treated Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS) in a different way than similar microwave services. “The FCC proposes to assess fees on LMDS licensees based on the amount of spectrum associated with each authorization” instead of the past practice of assessing LMDS licensees based on Multipoint Distribution Service authorizations, XO said. “The FCC should assess fees on LMDS licensees consistent with the fees assessed with other upperband, geographically licensed microwave services such as the 24 GHz and 39 GHz services,” XO said. Law firm Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast said the FCC’s plan to calculate the LMDS regulatory fee on a “per MHz basis” would cause an 87% increase for Block A LMDS licensees, or $505 per call sign: “Such a substantial increase (or indeed any increase) is not appropriate for LMDS licensees at this time, since LMDS equipment has been slow to develop, and most systems are not yet constructed.” The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said it supported the FCC proposal to replace the current international bearer circuit regulatory fee with a flat fee collected from holders of Sec. 214 authorizations and cable landing licensees. If the agency decides to use an alternative plan from Tyco, “all non-common carrier facilities must be treated the same way,” SIA said.