Report No. GN 98-9 GENERAL ACTION June 17, 1998 COMMISSION ADOPTS FY 1998 REGULATORY FEE SCHEDULE The Commission has revised its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order to collect the $162,523,000 in regulatory fees that Congress has required it to collect for Fiscal Year 1998. The Commission's Regulatory Fees will recover the costs of enforcement, policy and rulemaking, international and user information activities for FY 1998. Additionally, the Commission has amended the Schedule in order to assess regulatory fees upon licensees and/or regulatees of services not previously subject to payment of a fee, to simplify and streamline the Fee Schedule and to clarify and/or revise certain payment procedures. The amount that Congress has required the FCC to collect in FY 1998 is nearly 7% more than the amount Congress designated for recovery for FY 1997. These changes will create a system that relies on cost-based fees for services, but the total revenue to be collected from a particular service category will not increase more than 25% over the amount that would have been collected if fees had not been cost-based. The Commission's adopted schedule reduces fees for services whose regulatory costs have declined and adjusts fees upward for services that have higher regulatory costs. These adjustments will allow for a more accurate assessment of regulatory fees. In addition, the methodology adopted in the Report and Order will ensure that consistent assessment methods are maintained from year to year. Fee payments must be received by the Commission during the period beginning September 14, 1998, and ending September 18, 1998 in order to avoid a 25% late penalty. Action by the Commission June 9, 1998, by Report and Order (FCC 98-115). Chairman Kennard, Commissioners Ness, Furchtgott-Roth, Powell, and Tristani. News Media contact: Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500. Consumer contact: Martha Contee at (202) 418-0260. Office of Managing Director contact: Terry Johnson at (202) 418-0445. Office of General Counsel contact: James Mullins at (202) 418-1730. A chart comparing the FY 1997 and the FY 1998 schedules is attached. COMPARISON BETWEEN FY 1997 & FY 1998 REGULATORY FEES Fee Category Annual Regulatory Fee FY 1997 Annual Regulatory Fee FY 1998 PMRS (per license) (Formerly Land Mobile-Exclusive Use at 220-222 Mhz, above 470 Mhz, Base Station and SMRS) (47 CFR Part 90) 10 12 Microwave (per license) (47 CFR Part 101) 10 12 Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR Part 80) 5 6 Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR Part 80) 5 6 General Mobile Radio Service (per license) (47 CFR Part 95) 5 6 Land Mobile (per license) (all stations not covered by PMRS and CMRS) 5 6 Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47 CFR Part 87) 5 6 Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47 CFR Part 87) 5 6 Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 97) 5 1.30 CMRS Mobile Services (per unit) (47 CFR Parts 20, 22, 24, 80 and 90) .24 .29 CMRS Messaging Services [formerly One Way Paging] (per unit) (47 CFR Parts 20, 22, and 90) .03 .04 Multipoint Distribution Services (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 21) 215 260 AM/FM Radio (47 CFR Part 73) Group 1 2,000 See Radio Group 2 1,800 See Radio Group 3 1,600 See Radio Group 4 1,400 See Radio Group 5 1,200 See Radio Group 6 1,000 See Radio Group 7 800 See Radio Group 8 600 See Radio Group 9 400 See Radio Group 10 200 See Radio AM Construction Permits 195 235 FM Construction Permits 950 1,150 TV (47 CFR Part 73) VHF Commercial Markets 1-10 35,025 37,575 Markets 11-25 28,450 31,275 Markets 26-50 18,600 21,400 Markets 51-100 9,850 11,975 Remaining Markets 2,725 3,100 Construction Permits 4,800 2,525 TV (47 CFR Part 73) UHF Commercial Markets 1-10 16,850 14,175 Markets 11-25 13,475 10,725 Markets 26-50 8,750 6,650 Markets 51-100 4,725 3,975 Remaining Markets 1,350 1,075 Construction Permits 2,975 2,650 Satellite Television Stations (All Markets) 950 1,175 Construction Permits - Satellite Television Stations 345 420 Low Power TV, TV/FM Translators & Boosters (47 CFR Part 74) 220 265 Broadcast Auxiliary (47 CFR Part 74) 25 11 Cable Antenna Relay Service (47 CFR Part 78) 65 50 Earth Stations (47 CFR Part 25) 515 165 Cable Television Systems (per subscriber) (47 CFR Part 76) .54 .44 Interstate Telephone Service Providers (per revenue dollar) .00116 .0011 Space Stations (per operational station in geostationary orbit) (47 CFR Part 25) also includes Direct Broadcast Satellite Service (per operational station) ( 47 CFR Part 100) 97,975 97,975 119,000 119,000 Space Stations (per operational system in non- geostationary orbit) (47 CFR Part 25) 135,675 164,800 International Bearer Circuits (per active 64KB circuit) 5 6 International Public Fixed (per call sign) (47 CFR Part 23) 310 375 International (HF) Broadcast (47 CFR Part 73) 390 475 RADIO STATION REGULATORY FEES Population Served AM Class A AM Class B AM Class C AM Class D FM Classes A, B1 & C3 FM Classes B, C, C1 & C2 <=20,000 400 300 200 250 300 400 20,001 - 50,000 750 600 300 400 600 750 50.001 - 125,000 1,250 800 400 600 800 1,250 125,001 - 400,000 1,750 1,250 600 750 1,250 1,750 400,001 - 1,000,000 2,500 2,000 1,000 1,250 2,000 2,500 >1,000,000 4,000 3,250 1,500 2,000 3,250 4,000