On September 2, 2016, the FCC released an Order establishing its Fiscal Year 2016 Regulatory Fees.  Regulatory fee payments must be made no later than 11:59 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on September 27, 2016.  All licensees must use their FRN and password to access the Fee Filer System, and review, create, update, or change the fees owed. 

• 2016 Cable/IPTV regulatory fee:  Cable systems (including IPTV systems) that had subscribers as of December 31, 2015 must pay $1.00 per subscriber, a $0.04 increase from 2015. 

• CARS licenses and permits:  CARS facilities operating on October 1, 2015 must pay $775.00, a $155 increase from 2015, even if the facility’s license expired after October 1, 2015. 

• Interconnected VoIP regulatory fee:  $0.00371 for each dollar of interstate and international telecommunications revenue that a provider reports on its Form 499-A. 

This year, the FCC has set the DBS provider per-subscriber regulatory fee at $0.27, more than double last year’s $0.12 fee level, which was the first time that the FCC concluded that DirecTV and DISH should be included as a sub-category of payors to the “Cable and IPTV” fee category. 

Entities whose total regulatory fee liability, including all categories of fees for which payment is due, is $500 or less are exempt from payment.  Municipal providers and providers that qualify as non-profit entities are also exempt from regulatory fees.

If you have any questions about regulatory fee payments, please contact Scott Friedman at (312) 372-3930 or sfriedman@cinnamonmueller.com.