The FCC recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking soliciting comments on the Fiscal Year 2009 Regulatory Fee. The FCC specifically proposed a fee factor of .00342 (0.342%) for interstate telecommunications service providers (“ITSPs”), a minor increase from the FY 2008 fee factor of 0.00314. This fee factor is applied against the interstate and international revenue reported in Form 499-A for the prior year.
The ISTP fee factor applies to all interstate wireline telecommunications providers and interconnected VoIP service providers. Although the FCC has not set a firm due date, consistent with the FCC‘s established practice, the Commission intends to collect regulatory fees in the August-September 2009 time frame.
In addition to soliciting comments on the proposed ITSP fee factor, the FCC also solicits comments regarding regulatory fee factors imposed on other federally regulated communication services, including, but not limited to, media service providers, submarine cable licensees, and CMRS providers.
Entities whose total regulatory fee liability, including all categories for which payment is due, amounts to less than $10.00 will be exempted from payment of the FCC’s regulatory fees.
25% Late Filing Penalty
All clients are reminded that the FCC will impose a late payment penalty of 25 percent of the amount of the required fee on the first day following the deadline from filing these fees. Failure to pay regulatory fees and/or any late penalty will subject the regulatee to sanctions, and additional fees and charges. Failure to pay regulatory fees can also result in the initiation of a proceeding to revoke any and all authorizations held by the entity responsible for paying the delinquent fee(s).
Comments Solicited on Online Filing
In addition to fee factors, The FCC is soliciting comments on filing procedures; specifically, whether to make use of the agency‘s online Fee Filer mandatory for all payees. Practically, this will mean that the FCC will discontinue sending pre-bills to ITSPs by mail and will force ITSPs to file Form 159 online.
Clients who have questions about the FCC‘s FY 2009 Regulatory Fee, or wish to file comments on any of the issues outlined herein, should contact Jonathan Marashlian at (703) 714-1313.
