WASHINGTON—The FCC has voted to collect $339 million in regulatory fees for the Fiscal Year 2020, an increase on fees from 2019.
Some broadcasters, including New Jersey Broadcast Association President and CEO Paul Rotella, were asking the commission not to raise the regulatory fees for this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The commission is required by Congress to assess regulatory fees each year in an amount that can reasonably be expected to equal the amount of its appropriation,” the FCC said in a release.
In addition to the fee increase, the FCC also adopted new rules designed to ensure that domestic and foreign licensed space stations are responsible for the same regulatory fees. To do this, non-U.S. licensed commercial space stations that have access to the U.S. market through the FCC will now be assessed fees for the first time.
“It is unfair to saddle American satellite companies with fees while their foreign competitors with the same market access do not face those same credits,” the FCC said.
The full report and orders on license fees are available on the FCC’s website.
