Last month, the FCC opened its automated filing and payment system (“Fee Filer”) for filing and payment of FY 2013 regulatory fees.  The FCC will accept FY 2013 regulatory fees through 11:59pm, EDT, September 20, 2013.  Payments made after September 20, 2013 will be subject to a 25% late payment penalty.  Below, we cover the fee amounts and payment process.

Fee Amounts.  FY 2013 regulatory fees are the following:

• 2013 Cable regulatory fee:  Cable television systems operating on October 1, 2012 must pay $1.02 per subscriber, a $0.07 increase from FY 2012. 

• CARS licenses and permits:  CARS facilities operating on October 1, 2012 must pay $510.00 per license, a $35 increase from FY 2012, even if the facility’s license expired after October 1, 2012.

• Interconnected VoIP regulatory fee:  $0.00347 for each dollar of interstate and international telecommunications revenue that a provider reports on its Form 499-A. 

How to Pay.  All licensees must use their FRN and password to access the Fee Filer System and review, update, or change the fees owed.  Then, each licensee must choose a payment method – online payment with a credit card, online payment from a bank account, mailing a check, or sending a wire transfer.  Fee Filer will print a Form 159-E for users who do not wish to pay online.

This will be the last filing window in which licensees may pay regulatory fees by mailing a check.  Beginning October 1, 2013, in FY 2014, the FCC will no longer accept checks and a hardcopy Form 159-E to pay regulatory fee obligations. 

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

EEO Form 396-C Filing Deadline September 30, 2013

The FCC’s MVPD Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) Program Annual Report, Form 396-C, must be submitted electronically by midnight on September 30, 2013.  To file Form 396-C, login to the Media Bureau’s CDBS Electronic Filing System.  In addition, the FCC released a Public Notice listing the cable operators that the FCC randomly selected to file a Supplemental Investigation Sheet along with their Form 396-C. 

For this year’s filing, Supplemental Investigation Sheet filers must:

• Include one job description for employees in the category “Technicians” in Part I of the form.

• Answer questions 4, 7, and 8 in Part II of the form:

à    Explain the employment unit’s efforts to promote employees in a nondiscriminatory manner to positions of greater responsibility.

à    Describe the responsibility of each level of the employment unit’s management with respect to application and enforcement of its EEO policy and explain the procedure for review and control of managerial and supervisory performance.

à    Describe the manner in which the employment unit conducts its continuing review of job structure and employment practices. 

• Attach, as Part III, a copy of the unit’s EEO public file report created in 2013 covering the previous 12 months.

 If you have any questions about Form 396-C, or EEO compliance in general, please contact Scott Friedman at (312) 372-3930 or sfriedman@cinnamonmueller.com.

Broadband Providers: Defend Your Service Area from Being Overbuilt

By Connect America Funding

            On August 28, the FCC released a list of census blocks where price cap carriers – large telephone companies like AT&T, CenturyLink, and Windstream – plan to build broadband facilities using funding from the Connect America Fund Phase I.  If you serve any of those census blocks, you can defend your service area from being overbuilt with CAF funds. 

Challenges are due by September 27.  If you plan to file a challenge, start preparing now.

            Background.  The Connect America Fund (“CAF”) provides support to large telcos that committed to building broadband facilities in unserved areas – areas that, according to the National Broadband Map, lack access to internet with speeds of at least 3 Mbps/768 kbps. 

What to do now.  As a first step, review the FCC’s interactive map of the areas where the telcos are seeking support.  If a telco has elected support in any county in your service area, review the list of census blocks too.   

If the FCC’s list shows a census block that your company serves, consider filing a challenge.  Your challenge must show, with documented evidence, that you in fact serve the challenged census block with fixed Internet access with speeds of 3 Mbps/768 kbps or higher. 

More information:  The FCC orders describing the challenge process are available here and here.  The FCC’s Public Notice announcing the list of census blocks is available here.  Our coverage from previous client updates is available here.

Remember:  Challenges are due by September 27, 2013.  Now is the time to start preparing your challenge. 

If you have any questions about the challenge process or would like our assistance in preparing a challenge, please contact Jake Baldwin at (312) 372-3930 or jbaldwin@cinnamonmueller.com, Bruce Beard at (314) 394-1535 or bbeard@cinnamonmueller.com, or Elvis Stumbergs at (202) 872-6881 or estumbergs@cinnamonmueller.com.