Draft Reg Fee NPRM Proposes Lower Fees for Media Regulatees, Higher Wireline, Wireless
A draft NPRM on FCC regulatory fees circulated on the 10th floor uses a revamped methodology for assessing which full-time equivalents are connected with which bureaus, leading to proposed lower fees for Media Bureau regulatees such as broadcasters, and higher fees for Wireless and Wireline bureau industries, said FCC and industry officials. The rulemaking notice appears headed for unanimous approval soon, FCC and industry officials told us.
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The draft item appears to respond to NAB criticisms of the way the agency calculated regulatory fees in prior years. In calculating reg fees, the agency distinguishes between indirect FTEs -- who are included in the calculations of regulatory fees for all FCC regulatory fee payors -- and FTEs assigned to particular bureaus, who are included in the calculation of fees for only their particular bureau’s licensees. For this draft NPRM, the agency reassessed the indirect FTEs, assigning many of them to the particular bureaus related to their work. This led to some previously indirect FTEs being assigned to the Media Bureau, but many more were found to be working on wireless or wireline matters, and assigned accordingly, FCC and industry officials said. With fewer indirect FTEs and only a small increase in MB FTEs, the result is a reg fee reduction for broadcasters and other Media Bureau regulatees, FCC and industry officials said. Many of the formerly indirect FTEs would now be assigned to the Wireless and Wireline bureaus, so fees for those industries would likely rise. The FCC, CTIA, USTelecom and WIA didn’t comment.
Reg fees are “a significant expense for our clients every year,” said Shainis and Pelzman broadcast attorney Steve Lovelady. Rising regulatory fees are a bigger burden for broadcasters because they don’t charge viewers, and thus don’t have a way to defray higher costs. “Due to the shift in the advertising revenue, their bottom lines are down across the board,” Lovelady said of broadcasters.
Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s media adviser, David Strickland, last month hinted at the shift during a panel at the NAB Show. This year’s fees will be “closer to a regulatory fee balance,” he said then. The change in fee calculation is the result of a big effort from the Office of Managing Director and Deena Shetler, Rosenworcel’s chief of staff for administration, FCC and industry officials said. NCTA met with agency staff last week to counter NAB arguments about indirect FTEs (see 2305050032), but FCC and broadcast industry officials said the lowered reg fees will apply to all Media Bureau regulatees, including cable companies.
The draft NPRM doesn’t include proposals to widen the scope of regulatory fee payors, which NAB also repeatedly pushed for. New regulatory fee categories for unlicensed spectrum users or broadband service providers aren’t supported by the record, said NCTA last week. “We have constraints, and we have to recover the costs of running the agency,” said Audio Division Chief Albert Shuldiner last month.