WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission last week rescinded its previously announced plan to make wireless carriers pay an additional $7.3 million in regulatory fees.
“We’re very happy that the FCC acted so quickly to correct their public notice and rescind the fees,” said Michael F. Altschul, vice president and general counsel of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.
Congress, which sets the amount of regulatory fees to be collected each year, told the FCC to collect 7.7 percent more for fiscal-year 2000 than it collected for 1999. Regulatory fees amount to about 80 percent of the FCC’s annual budget.
Commercial mobile radio services carriers had expected to pay 30 cents per unit, but a public notice released Aug. 2 indicated wireless carriers also might have had to pay for interstate traffic. CTIA balked at the plan.
“The report and order did not specifically indicate that the fees in question would be collected from these regulatees in FY 2000. Therefore, the portions of the public notice that made reference to collecting the [interstate telephone service provider] fee will not be collected from these entities this year,” said the FCC.
CTIA fully expects that next year the commission will propose to assess the interstate telephone service fee on wireless carriers, said Altschul. “We will have the full opportunity to make our case,” he said.
Regulatory fees are a separate assessment from filing fees because regulatory fees go to offset congressional appropriations and filing fees are sent to the general treasury.
