[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 137 (Monday, July 19, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41932-41962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17331]



[[Page 41931]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part II





Federal Communications Commission





-----------------------------------------------------------------------



47 CFR Part 1



Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2010; 
Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 137 / Monday, July 19, 2010 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 41932]]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 1

[MD Docket No. 10-87; FCC 10-123]


Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2010

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In this document, we amend our Schedule of Regulatory Fees to 
collect $335,794,000 in regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, 
pursuant to section 9 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended 
(the Act). These fees are mandated by Congress and are collected to 
recover the regulatory costs associated with the Commission's 
enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user information, and international 
activities.

DATES: August 18, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roland Helvajian, Office of Managing 
Director at (202) 418-0444.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

    Adopted: July 8, 2010.
    Released: July 9, 2010.
    By the Commission.

Table of Contents

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Paragraph
                           Heading                                No.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Introduction                                                        1
II. Report and Order                                                   2
    A. FY 2010 Regulatory Fee Assessment Methodology                   3
        1. AM and FM Radio Stations                                    5
        2. Submarine Cable Methodology                                11
    B. Regulatory Fee Obligations for Digital Full Service            16
     Television Broadcasters
    C. Regulatory Fee Obligations for Digital Low Power,              21
     Class A, and TV Translators/Boosters
    D. Commercial Mobile Radio Service Messaging Service              22
    E. Interstate Telecommunications Service Provider Fees            25
    F. Administrative and Operational Issues                          32
        1. Mandatory Use of Fee Filer                                 33
        2. Notification and Collection of Regulatory Fees             35
            a. Pre-Bills                                              35
III. Procedural Matters                                               39
    A. Public Notices and Fact Sheets                                 40
    B. Assessment Notifications                                       41
        1. Media Services Licensees                                   41
        2. CMRS Cellular and Mobile Services Assessments              44
    C. Streamlined Regulatory Fee Payment Process                     47
        1. Cable Television Subscribers                               47
        2. CMRS Cellular and Mobile Providers                         48
        3. Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers            49
         (``ITSP'')
    D. Payment of Regulatory Fees                                     50
        1. Lock Box Bank                                              50
        2. Receiving Bank for Wire Payments                           51
        3. De Minimis Regulatory Fees                                 52
        4. Standard Fee Calculations and Payment Dates                53
    E. Enforcement                                                    54
    F. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis                          56
    G. Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis                 57
    H. Congressional Review Act Analysis                              58
IV. Ordering Clauses                                                  59
Appendix A--List of Commenters and Reply Commenters
Appendix B--Calculation of FY 2010 Revenue Requirements and
 Pro-Rata Fees
Appendix C--FY 2010 Schedule of Regulatory Fees
Appendix D--Sources of Payment Unit Estimates for FY 2010
Appendix E--Factors, Measurements, and Calculations That Go
 Into Determining Station Signal Contours and Associated
 Population Coverages
Appendix F--Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Appendix G--Rule Changes
Appendix H--FY 2009 Schedule of Regulatory Fees
------------------------------------------------------------------------


I. Introduction

    1. In this Report and Order, we conclude the Assessment and 
Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year (``FY'') 2010 
proceeding to collect $335,794,000 in regulatory fees for FY 2010, 
pursuant to section 9 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended 
(the ``Act''). Section 9 regulatory fees are mandated by Congress 
and are collected to recover the regulatory costs associated with 
the Commission's enforcement, policy and rulemaking, user 
information, and international activities.\1\ The annual regulatory 
fee amount to be collected is established each year in the 
Commission's Annual Appropriations Act which is adopted by Congress 
and signed by the President and which funds the Commission.\2\ In 
this annual regulatory fee proceeding, we retain many of the 
established methods, policies, and procedures for collecting section 
9 regulatory fees adopted by the Commission in prior years. 
Consistent with our established practice, we intend to collect these 
regulatory fees during an August 2010 filing window.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 47 U.S.C. 159(a).
    \2\ See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, Public Law 111-
117 for the FY 2010 appropriations act language for the Commission 
establishing the amount of $335,794,000 of offsetting collections to 
be assessed and collected by the Commission pursuant to section 9 of 
the Communications Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Report and Order

    2. On April 13, 2010, we released a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (``FY 2010 NPRM'') (75 FR 21536, April 26, 2010) seeking 
comment on regulatory fee issues for FY

[[Page 41933]]

2010.\3\ The section 9 regulatory fee proceeding is an annual 
rulemaking process to ensure the Commission collects the required 
fee amount each year. In the FY 2010 NPRM, we proposed to retain the 
section 9 regulatory fee methodology used in the prior fiscal year 
except as discussed below. We received nine comments and five reply 
comments.\4\ We address the issues raised in our FY 2010 NPRM and 
these comments below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See FY 2010 NPRM.
    \4\ See Appendix A for the list of commenters and abbreviated 
names.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. FY 2010 Regulatory Fee Assessment Methodology

    3. In our FY 2010 regulatory fee assessment, we will use the 
same section 9 regulatory fee assessment methodology adopted in FY 
2009. Each fiscal year, the Commission proportionally allocates the 
total amount that must be collected via section 9 regulatory fees. 
The results of our FY 2010 regulatory fee assessment methodology 
(including a comparison to the prior year's results) are contained 
in Appendix B. To collect the $335,794,000 required by Congress, we 
adjust the FY 2009 amount downward by 1.8 percent and allocate this 
amount across the various fee categories. Consistent with past 
practice, we then divide the FY 2010 amount by the number of 
estimated payment units in each fee category to determine the unit 
fee.\5\ As in prior years, for cases involving small fees, e.g., 
licenses that are renewed over a multiyear term, we divide the 
resulting unit fee by the term of the license and then rounded these 
unit fees consistent with the requirements of section 9(b)(2) of the 
Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ In many instances, the regulatory fee amount is a flat fee 
per licensee or regulatee. In some instances, the fee amount 
represents a per-unit fee (such as for International Bearer 
Circuits), a per-unit subscriber fee (such as for Cable, Commercial 
Mobile Radio Service (``CMRS'') Cellular/Mobile and CMRS Messaging), 
or a fee factor per revenue dollar (Interstate Telecommunications 
Service Provider (``ITSP'') fee). The payment unit is the measure 
upon which the fee is based, such as a licensee, regulatee, or 
subscriber fee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    4. In calculating the FY 2010 regulatory fees listed in Appendix 
C, we further adjusted the FY 2009 list of payment units (see 
Appendix D) based upon licensee databases, industry and trade group 
projections, as well as prior year payment information. In some 
instances, Commission licensee databases were used; in other 
instances, actual prior year payment records and/or industry and 
trade association projections were used in determining the payment 
unit counts.\6\ Where appropriate, we adjusted and rounded our final 
estimates to take into consideration events that may impact the 
number of units for which regulatees submit payment, such as waivers 
and exemptions that may be filed in FY 2010, and fluctuations in the 
number of licenses or station operators due to economic, technical, 
or other reasons. Our estimated FY 2010 payment units, therefore, 
are based on several variable factors that are relevant to each fee 
category. The fee rate also may be rounded or adjusted slightly to 
account for these variables.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ The databases we consulted are the following: the 
Commission's Universal Licensing System (``ULS''), International 
Bureau Filing System (``IBFS''), Consolidated Database System 
(``CDBS'') and Cable Operations and Licensing System (``COALS''). We 
also consulted reports generated within the Commission such as the 
Wireline Competition Bureau's Trends in Telephone Service and the 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's Numbering Resource Utilization 
Forecast and Annual CMRS Competition Report, as well as industry 
sources including, but not limited to, Television & Cable Factbook 
by Warren Publishing, Inc. and the Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook 
by Reed Elsevier, Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. AM and FM Radio Stations

    5. As in previous years, we consider the additional factors of 
facility attributes and the population served by each radio station 
in determining regulatory fees for AM and FM radio stations. The 
calculation of the population served is determined by coupling 
current U.S. Census Bureau data with technical and engineering data, 
as detailed in Appendix E. Consequently, the population served, as 
well as the class and type of service (AM or FM), will continue to 
determine the amount of regulatory fee to be paid.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ In addition, beginning in FY 2005, we established a 
procedure by which we set regulatory fees for AM and FM radio and 
VHF and UHF television Construction Permits each year at an amount 
no higher than the lowest regulatory fee for a licensed station in 
that respective service category. For example, in FY 2009 the 
regulatory fee for an AM radio station Construction Permit was no 
higher than the regulatory fee for an AM Class C radio station 
serving a population of less than 25,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    6. In response to our FY 2010 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, we 
received two comments and one reply comment regarding regulatory 
fees applicable to radio stations. In his comment, Robert Bittner 
states that the regulatory fee structure unfairly favors the largest 
AM, FM, and television stations, which have much higher revenues.\8\ 
Mr. Bittner compares the greater revenues earned by large AM, FM, 
and TV stations and the proportion of regulatory fees that they pay 
with the revenues and regulatory fees of smaller markets.\9\ Mr. 
Bittner proposes the Commission use a flat percentage of a station's 
income as a more equitable methodology for assessing regulatory 
fees.\10\ As an alternative approach, Mr. Bittner suggests that the 
Commission assess regulatory fees on a per-person basis based on the 
station's city-grade contour, taking into consideration reductions 
for AM stations and those stations that have to reduce power at 
night.\11\ Finally, Mr. Bittner argues that the population 
thresholds currently in use are too narrow, thereby favoring the 
larger stations, which are well beyond the 750,000 population 
threshold. In his reply comment, Mr. Alex Goldman agrees with Mr. 
Bittner's recommendations.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See comments of Robert Bittner at page 1.
    \9\ Id. at page 1.
    \10\ Id.
    \11\ Id.
    \12\ See comments of Alex Goldman at page 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    7. Mr. Edward A. Schober, representing Radiotechniques 
Engineering, also submitted a comment regarding radio station 
regulatory fees. Mr. Schober recommends that the Commission review 
the regulatory fee structure for AM radio stations in which fees, 
from highest to lowest, are currently assessed according to class: 
Class A, B, D, and C. Mr. Schober argues that Class D AM radio 
stations should be assessed the lowest AM regulatory fee as a class 
of service.\13\ In addition, Mr. Schober also recommends that the AM 
and FM radio station regulatory fees be related to the amount of 
spectrum occupied by the stations, which is 100 kHz for FM stations 
and 10 kHz for AM stations; hence, he asserts that AM stations 
should be assessed 10 percent of the FM station fee covering the 
same population.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ See comments from Edward A. Schober, representing 
Radiotechniques Engineering, at page 2.
    \14\ Id. at pages 1-2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    8. Although Mr. Bittner and Mr. Schober provide interesting 
recommendations, the Commission is required to comply with the 
language and intent of 47 U.S.C. 159, which governs the assessment 
of regulatory fees. Any changes in fee methodology must be 
consistent with the governing statute, including the prior 
notification to Congress required therein. Mr. Bittner's 
recommendation to assess a fee based on revenue income is not 
without precedent; we currently consider revenues in assessing 
regulatory fees for the Interstate Telecommunications Service 
Provider (ITSP) fee. However, there are two significant obstacles to 
the use of revenues in assessing radio and TV station fees: (1) In 
contrast to ITSPs, radio stations are not required to submit income 
or revenue information, which means that radio and television 
stations would be left to the honor system in determining their 
regulatory fee obligation (and since revenues on a per station basis 
can fluctuate from year to year, it would be difficult for the 
Commission to project the total revenue base upon which regulatory 
fees would be calculated for future collections), and (2) there are 
over 12,000 radio and television facilities for which income data 
would have to be gathered and maintained from year to year.
    9. Mr. Bittner also recommends using a fee per person regulatory 
fee methodology for radio stations based on a station's city-grade 
contour, rather than the current flat fee per station.\15\ According 
to Mr. Bittner, the advantage here would be for radio stations to 
account for every person within the station's contour. Implementing 
such a regulatory fee methodology would be very burdensome for both 
the Commission and the licensees, with more than 10,600 radio 
stations having to calculate the per person fee each year. Moreover, 
if the Commission were to change to a fee per person methodology, 
there would actually be double-counting of persons that are served 
by many radio stations in the same community. For example, in a city 
such as Los Angeles, there are many radio stations that serve the 
same listening public, and if we assessed a fee on a per person 
basis, many of these radio stations would be paying a regulatory fee 
for the same person many times over. Thus, this proposed ``per 
person'' fee would not improve upon the current

[[Page 41934]]

assessment methodology, under which regulatory fees are assessed on 
a per license per station basis based on the population reach of the 
signal. For all of these reasons, implementing a fee structure based 
on a per person basis would be impractical as well as unmanageable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ Comments by Robert Bittner, at page 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    10. Finally, Mr. Schober recommends that the Commission use 
spectrum occupancy as the basis of assessing AM and FM regulatory 
fees. The Commission's current system uses population as the basis 
for differentiating between higher and lower regulatory fees. There 
is a dearth of data in the record to support a correlation between 
the amount of bandwidth occupied and the appropriate amount of 
regulatory fees to be assessed. Furthermore, the correlation between 
spectrum use and regulatory fees may not be consistent with the 
intent of the original Section 9 legislation. The original Section 9 
legislation only differentiates radio station regulatory fees by 
class and by type of service (AM or FM).\16\ We do not dismiss Mr. 
Schober's points about the need to review the current AM fee 
structure based on class, and find that this fee structure should be 
reviewed further for future funding years. Although the original AM 
and FM fee grid was submitted as a comment by the National 
Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and supported by 19 State 
Broadcaster Associations, it should be noted that the Commission 
adopted this grid in its FY 1998 Report & Order,\17\ (63 FR 35847, 
July 1, 1998) more than a decade ago.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ 47 U.S.C. 159(g).
    \17\ See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 1998, Report and Order, FCC 98-115, 13 FCC Rcd 19820, para. 37 
(adopted June 16, 1998).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Submarine Cable Methodology

    11. In the NPRM, we proposed to continue to use an 87.6/12.4 
percent revenue allocation between submarine cable and satellite/
terrestrial for the bearer circuit regulatory fees for 2010.\18\ 
This allocation was established by the Commission in the FY 2009 
Regulatory Fees Report and Order,\19\ (74 FR 40089, August 11, 2009) 
and was based on a ``Consensus Proposal'' from a large group of 
submarine cable operators that was the basis for Commission revising 
the methodology for the bearer circuit regulatory fee in the 
Submarine Cable Order.\20\ In that Order, the Commission acted on 
the Consensus Proposal and adopted a new submarine cable bearer 
circuit methodology that assesses regulatory fees on a per cable 
landing license basis, with higher fees for larger submarine cable 
systems and lower fees for smaller systems, without distinguishing 
between common carriers and non-common carrier cables.\21\ In the 
NPRM we stated that since we do not have any additional information 
that would lead us to change the allocation, we would use the 87.6/
12.4 percent allocation to calculate the FY 2010 bearer circuit 
regulatory fees.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ NPRM at para. 6.
    \19\ See FY 2009 Report and Order at para 8.
    \20\ See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 2008, Second Report and Order, 24 FCC Rcd 4208 (2009) 
(``Submarine Cable Order'').
    \21\ Id.
    \22\ NPRM at para. 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    12. In response to the NPRM, Global Crossing North America, Inc. 
(``GCNA'') filed comments seeking changes to the regulatory fee 
methodology for bearer circuits adopted by the Commission in the 
Submarine Cable Order.\23\ GCNA urges the Commission to place a 
limit on the aggregate fee that a submarine cable operator (or group 
of affiliated operators) should be required to pay in any given 
fiscal year to prevent the total regulatory fee from reaching an 
inequitable level.\24\ GSNC suggests several changes that the 
Commission could make to the regulatory fee methodology to address 
its concerns: (1) Imposing a fee on no more than two cable landing 
licenses held by a single licensee or group of affiliated licensees, 
(2) limiting the aggregate fee that any licensee or group of 
affiliated licensees must pay, (3) defining the ``system'' subject 
to a regulatory fee as an integrated network of cables, rather than 
presuming that each license represents a separate system, or (4) 
changing from the 87.6/12.4 percent allocation to a different one, 
such as a 50/50 percent allocation.\25\ Verizon and Qwest 
Communications International, Inc (``Qwest'') filed reply comments 
opposing GCNA's proposals.\26\ GCNA filed reply comments noting that 
the Office of the Managing Director (``OMD'') had denied its 
petition to have its 2009 regulatory fees reduced.\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ GCNA comments. GCNA was not part of the group of submarine 
cable operators that supported the Consensus Proposal, but GCNA also 
did not file comments opposing the Consensus Proposal. See Submarine 
Cable Order at n. 3, para. 11. See also GCNA comments at n. 22.
    \24\ GCNA comments at 1.
    \25\ GCNA comments at pages 6-7.
    \26\ Qwest reply comments; Verizon reply comments.
    \27\ GCNA reply comments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    13. We will not make any changes to the methodology for the 
bearer circuit regulatory fees and will use the 87.6/12.4 percent 
revenue allocation for 2010. The Commission adopted the current 
methodology in 2009 in the Submarine Cable Order, and it has only 
been in place since that time. In the Submarine Cable Order the 
Commission found that this methodology allocates bearer circuit 
regulatory fees in an equitable and competitively neutral 
manner.\28\ As Qwest and Verizon point out, the proposals from GCNA 
would shift the payment of the regulatory fees to the benefit of a 
few payers, such as GCNA, and to the detriment of most. The 
Commission must collect a certain amount of revenue from the bearer 
circuit regulatory fee category each year. Reducing the regulatory 
fees that certain submarine cable operators pay by either limiting 
the number of cable landing licenses for which a fee must be paid, 
limiting the aggregate fee a submarine cable operator must pay or 
changing the basis for the fees to a ``system'' fee that may include 
multiple cable landing licenses, will mean that other submarine 
cable operators will have to pay higher regulatory fees. We agree 
with Qwest that these changes would disadvantage cable operators 
with only one or two cables by increasing the proportion of the 
bearer circuit fee that they must pay.\29\ Thus, we find that these 
proposals would not be as equitable as the methodology adopted in 
the Submarine Cable Order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \28\ Submarine Cable Order at paras. 1, 7, 9.
    \29\ Qwest reply comments at 1-2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    14. We also decline to change the basis for the assessment of 
the regulatory fee on submarine cable operators. In the Submarine 
Cable Order the Commission adopted a methodology for submarine 
cables based on a per cable landing license fee consistent with the 
Consensus Proposal.\30\ GCNA proposes that the Commission change the 
basis for the fee to be a ``system,'' which may include multiple 
cable landing licenses.\31\ This proposal, in addition to shifting 
the regulatory fees from operators with multiple submarine cable 
licenses to other submarine cable operators, would add complexity to 
the administration of the regulatory fees. In addition to being 
equitable and competitively neutral, the current methodology is easy 
to administer.\32\ As Qwest notes, using a ``system'' as the basis 
for the submarine cable fees will require the Commission to 
establish a new process to determine which submarine cable licenses 
comprise a ``system'' and to maintain an updated list of 
systems.\33\ This would be complex and controversial because 
different submarine cable operators may have different criteria for 
what comprises a system and indeed may argue that all of their 
submarine cables comprise a ``system'' regardless of any difference 
in technology or geography between the submarine cables.\34\ In 
addition, changing what is meant by a cable system will affect the 
Commission's submarine cable licensing procedures. As the Commission 
noted in the Submarine Cable Order, adoption of the new regulatory 
fee methodology did not amend the rules for licensing submarine 
cables,\35\ and we should not interpret our licensing rules for the 
purpose of achieving a particular result in connection with the 
application of the regulatory fee methodology.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ Submarine Cable Order at para. 1.
    \31\ GCNA comments at 7.
    \32\ Submarine Cable Order at paras. 7, 10.
    \33\ Qwest reply comments at 2.
    \34\ We note that most U.S. international service providers 
state that they provide seamless global services over their global 
networks which integrate subcable, terrestrial and satellite 
facilities.
    \35\ Submarine Cable Order at para. 12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    15. Finally, we will not change the revenue allocation between 
submarine cable operators and terrestrial/satellite operators for 
the 2010 regulatory fees. For the 2009 regulatory fees the 
Commission used the 87.4/12.6 percent allocation proposed in the 
Consensus Proposal.\36\ The Commission noted in the Submarine Cable 
Order that this apportionment would be determined on an annual basis 
in the annual regulatory fee proceeding.\37\ In the NPRM we proposed 
to continue to use the 87.4/12.6 percent revenue allocation because 
we did not have any information on which to base a change in that 
allocation.\38\ We do not find that there is any basis in the record 
of this proceeding to alter that allocation. GCNA proposes that we 
change the allocation and suggests a 50/50 allocation.\39\ We agree 
with Qwest and

[[Page 41935]]

Verizon that GCNA has not provided any basis for a change in the 
allocation.\40\ GCNA questions the appropriateness of the current 
allocation, but provides no basis for a 50/50 allocation other than 
that it was included in a 2008 proposal by certain cable operators, 
including GCNA, as part of the process that lead to the Consensus 
Proposal.\41\ We will continue to review this allocation as part of 
our annual regulatory fee proceeding, but do not find any basis to 
alter the 87.4/12.6 percent revenue allocation for the 2010 
regulatory fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \36\ FY 2009 Report and Order at para. 8.
    \37\ Submarine Cable Order at n. 35.
    \38\ NPRM at 6.
    \39\ GCNA comments at 7-8.
    \40\ Qwest reply comments at 2; Verizon reply comments at 2-3.
    \41\ GCNA comments at 7, n. 21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Regulatory Fee Obligations for Digital Full Service Television 
Broadcasters

    16. The digital transition on June 12, 2009 eliminated the 
distinction between digital and analog full-service television 
stations. As a result, beginning in FY 2010, the Commission will 
collect annual regulatory fees from all digital full-service 
television stations, and the ``digital-only'' exemption will no 
longer be applicable. Also, it is possible that because this is the 
first year following the Commission's transition to digital full 
service television, some facilities may be operating under a Special 
Temporary Authority (STA) beginning on October 1, 2009 until the 
digital license is issued. For FY 2010 regulatory fee purposes, 
facilities operating under an STA will be considered to be fully 
operational licensed facilities and will be obligated to pay the 
same regulatory fee as a licensed full-service television station.
    17. Although we did not seek comment on this issue, we received 
two comments regarding the assessment of regulatory fees for VHF 
television stations in the wake of the digital conversion. Fireweed 
Communications (``Fireweed'') states that VHF television station 
channels come in two ranges: Channels 2-6 (Low VHF and less 
desirable) and Channels 7-13 (High VHF and more desirable).\42\ 
Fireweed states that historically VHF television stations have been 
considered to be ``superior to UHF'', and as a result, VHF stations 
were assessed a much higher regulatory fee than UHF stations. 
Fireweed further asserts that, with the transition to digital TV, 
UHF channel assignments have become more advantageous, both in terms 
of lower interference and greater desirability.\43\ Therefore, 
Fireweed contends, it should not be surprising to see VHF licensees 
transitioning not only to UHF channels, but also between VHF 
Channels 2-6 and VHF Channels 7-13.\44\ Because of this 
transitioning within VHF and to UHF channels, Fireweed argues, the 
Commission should base its regulatory fee structure on three tiers 
of bands, VHF Channels 2-6, VHF Channels 7-13, and all UHF Channels 
(channels 14 and greater).\45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \42\ See comments of Fireweed Communications, LLC at page 2.
    \43\ Id. at pages 1-2.
    \44\ Id. at page 2.
    \45\ Id. at page 3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    18. Sky Television LLC, Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc., and 
Sarkes Tarzian, together known as VHF Digital Stations (``VHF 
Digital Stations''), also filed comments relating to VHF and UHF 
television stations. VHF Digital Stations urge the Commission to 
combine VHF and UHF television stations into one fee category by 
market size.\46\ VHF Digital Stations recommend that, instead of 
having six separate VHF and six separate UHF regulatory fee 
categories, the Commission should combine VHF and UHF station fees 
into six categories according to market size and identify them 
simply as full service digital television stations.\47\ By combining 
the VHF and UHF fee categories into one as VHF recommends, the 
resulting fee category would in effect eliminate the historical 
distinction between the higher VHF fees and the lower UHF fees. VHF 
Digital Stations also argue that the current regulatory fee 
methodology structure is inconsistent with the spirit of regulatory 
fees in which higher fees are assessed for more desirable spectrum; 
in the digital world, VHF argues, the UHF channels are the desirable 
spectrum.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \46\ See comments of VHF Digital Stations at page 1.
    \47\ Id.
    \48\ Id. at pages 3-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    19. We acknowledge that in the digital transition some stations 
moved from VHF to UHF channels. In fact, over the past several 
months, the number of entities changing channels from VHF to UHF has 
totaled over 38 percent.\49\ This will impact the regulatory fees 
paid by those VHF television stations still operating on VHF 
channels. In many of the Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMA), the 
number of VHF stations decreased almost 50 percent and this in turn 
will increase the regulatory fee for these categories twofold. While 
this potential fee escalation underscores the need for more 
fundamental, long term reform of our regulatory fee process, it is 
imperative that we take steps under our current fee structure to 
mitigate the impact of this shift on television stations still 
operating on VHF channels and, at the same time, take at least a 
partial step toward more fairly apportioning fees across all 
television markets.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ Data from the Media Bureau's Consolidated Database System 
(CDBS) shows that prior to the digital conversion, there were 600 
full service analog VHF stations; after the digital conversion, 
there were 370 VHF digital television stations, a reduction of 230 
VHF stations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    20. A number of commenters have urged us to either combine all 
VHF and UHF full-service television stations into one fee category, 
or else to establish a three-tiered regulatory fee system for full-
service televisions.\50\ Rather than ``flash cut'' to one fee 
category, which would result in a large fee increase to many UHF 
licensees for FY2010, today we use the shift in stations discussed 
to move toward a combined fee category by including in the UHF 
category the units and their corresponding dollar amounts of the VHF 
stations that changed channels during or after the digital 
conversion. Thus, we use the VHF fee amount in the proposed FY 2010 
NPRM as a starting point in calculating the final FY 2010 VHF 
regulatory fee rate. Then, in order to calculate the VHF and UHF FY 
2010 regulatory fees, we move the number of ``shifting'' units 
(units of the stations that changed channels from VHF to UHF) and 
their corresponding dollar amounts from the VHF fee category by 
market size to the UHF fee category within the same market size. 
Thus, within each UHF fee category by market size, the projected 
revenue amount is increased along with the number of units in that 
fee category. The resulting larger projected revenue amount and the 
higher number of units is then used to calculate each UHF fee 
category by market size. It is important to note that, by moving 
only the dollar amounts and their corresponding units from the VHF 
to the UHF fee category by market size, the impact of the resulting 
fee increase on the UHF fee category is approximately 18%-20% less 
than the fee increase that would have resulted from combining all 
VHF and all UHF television stations into one digital category by 
market size. We find this to be in the public interest because it is 
a more equitable result for all entities involved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ For comments regarding a combined VHF/UHF television fee 
category, see comments of VHF Digital Stations at pages 1-2; for 
recommendations on a three-tiered regulatory fees system for 
television stations, see comments of Fireweed Communications at page 
3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Regulatory Fee Obligations for Digital Low Power, Class A, and 
TV Translators/Boosters

    21. Although the digital transition of full-service television 
stations was completed on June 12, 2009, the digital transition for 
Low Power, Class A, and TV Translators/Boosters is still voluntary, 
and there is currently no set date for the completion of this 
transition. Historically, the discussion of the digital transition 
conversion with respect to regulatory fees has centered on full-
service television stations, and therefore, the elimination of the 
``digital only'' exemption described in paragraph 20 has no impact 
on this class of regulatees. Because the digital transition in the 
Low Power, Class A, and TV Translators/Booster facilities is 
voluntary and the transition will occur over a period of time, it is 
possible that some facilities will convert from analog to digital 
more quickly than others. During this interim transition period, 
licensees of Low Power, Class A, and TV Translator/Booster 
facilities could be operating in analog mode, in digital mode, or in 
an analog and digital simulcast mode. For regulatory fee purposes, a 
fee will be assessed for each facility operating either in an analog 
or digital mode. In instances in which a licensee is operating in 
both an analog and digital mode as a simulcast, a single regulatory 
fee will be assessed for this analog facility that has a digital 
companion channel. As greater numbers of facilities convert to 
digital mode, the Commission will provide revised instructions on 
how regulatory fees will be assessed.

D. Commercial Mobile Radio Service Messaging Service

    22. Commercial Mobile Radio Service (``CMRS'') Messaging 
Service, which replaced the CMRS One-Way Paging fee category in

[[Page 41936]]

1997, includes all narrowband services.\51\ Since 1997, the number 
of subscribers has declined from 40.8 million to 6.5 million, and 
there does not appear to be any sign of recovery to the subscriber 
levels of 1997-1999. Because of this declining subscribership, since 
FY 2003 the Commission has maintained the CMRS Messaging fee rate at 
$0.08 per subscriber, the rate that was established in FY 2002.\52\ 
We therefore sought comment in the FY 2010 Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking to continue maintaining the regulatory fee rate at $0.08 
per subscriber due to the declining subscriber base in this 
industry.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \51\ See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 1997, MD Docket No. 96-186, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 17161, 
17184-85, para. 60 (1997) (``FY 1997 Report and Order'').
    \52\ See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 2003, MD Docket No. 03-83, Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 15985, 
paras. 21-22 (2003) (``FY 2003 Report and Order'').
    \53\ Between FY 1997 and FY 2009, the subscriber base in the 
paging industry declined 84 percent from 40.8 million to 6.5 million 
subscribers, according to FY 2009 collections data as of September 
30, 2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    23. We received one comment. The American Association of Paging 
Carriers (``AAPC'') filed a comment urging the Commission to either 
maintain the FY 2010 CMRS Messaging Service fee at $0.08 per unit or 
prescribe a lower fee.\54\ AAPC asserts that the industry 
circumstances of 2003 of declining subscribership continue 
today.\55\ AAPC also contends that a review of the regulatory fee 
methodology would reveal that further reduction in the paging 
regulatory fee is warranted.\56\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ See comments of American Association of Paging Carriers, at 
page 1.
    \55\ Id. at page 3.
    \56\ Id. at page 2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    24. We agree with AAPC that the circumstances prevailing in 2003 
still exist today, and conclude that the FY 2010 CMRS Messaging 
regulatory fee should remain at a rate of $0.08 per subscriber.

E. Interstate Telecommunications Service Provider Fees

    25. As we noted in Fiscal Year 2009 Regulatory Fee Report and 
Order,\57\ the comprehensive regulatory fee revision issues raised 
in the FY 2008 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) \58\ 
(73 FR 50201, August 26, 2008) remain outstanding. In part, we 
invited the Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSPs) 
to comment on several specific regulatory fee issues.\59\ We note 
that in addition to our request for comment, we released specific 
data to assist commenters.\60\ The responses were not as detailed as 
we had hoped. Indeed, we received two comments and one reply comment 
on the subject of regulatory fees applicable to ITSPs. STi Prepaid 
LLC (``STi Prepaid'') argues that since its inception in 1994, the 
Commission's regulatory fee methodology has not changed 
significantly,\61\ and as a result, the regulatory fee structure may 
not accurately reflect significant changes that have occurred in the 
interstate and international telecommunications marketplace since 
that time.\62\ Because the marketplace has changed while the 
regulatory fee structure has not, STi Prepaid asserts that ITSP 
providers bear by far the largest burden of total regulatory fees, 
and further increases in ITSP regulatory fees borne by interstate 
and international providers are no longer tenable.\63\ STi Prepaid 
urges the Commission to re-evaluate the allocation and methodology 
that is used to calculate ITSP regulatory fees.\64\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \57\ Assessment and Collection Of Regulatory Fees For Fiscal 
Year 2009, Assessment And Collection Of Regulatory Fees For Fiscal 
Year 2008, Report and Order, 24 FCC Rcd. 10301 (2009).
    \58\ Assessment and Collection Of Regulatory Fees For Fiscal 
Year 2008, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, 24 FCC Rcd. 6388 (2008) (2008 Regulatory Fee R&O and 
FNPRM).
    \59\ Id., at 6402-05. We sought comments on ways to improve our 
regulatory fee process regarding any and all categories of service 
(see paras. 31-36), and we specifically invited ITSPs to respond to 
the following:
    41. Relative to other services that pay regulatory fees, we 
recognize that the ITSP market has changed since the Commission 
calculated the cost of ITSP regulation in FY 1997. We agree that it 
is appropriate to review our methodology for assessing regulatory 
fees on ITSPs. We seek comment on whether ITSPs current share of 
regulatory fees, which has not been revised significantly since 
1997, is appropriate. Commenters should discuss the ITSP market and 
how it has changed since 1997 relative to the other services that 
pay regulatory fees such as wireless and broadcast services. 
Commenters suggesting a change in the proportionate share for ITSPs 
should propose a methodology. For example, would it be more 
appropriate to return to the original Schedule of Regulatory Fees 
and assess fees per 1,000 access lines? We note that we have 
experienced significant success and accuracy with a number-based 
approach for CMRS. Would number of access lines be most appropriate?
    \60\ The Office of Managing Director Releases Data to Assist 
Commenters on Issues Presented in Further Notice Of Proposed 
Rulemaking Adopted on August 1, 2008, Public Notice, 23 FCC Rcd. 
14581 (2008).
    \61\ STi Prepaid's view of the antecedent regulatory fee events 
is a generalized overstatement. Indeed, the Commission has opened a 
number of proceedings to adjust the fee methodology, see e.g., 
Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2004, 
Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd. 11662, 11667, para. 12 (2004).
    \62\ See comments of STi Prepaid LLC at page 1.
    \63\ Id.
    \64\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    26. Unlike most other regulatory fees that are based on a flat 
fee per license, or on some multiplier based on the regulatee's 
market size, ITSP regulatory fees are based on revenues, with ITSP 
providers paying a regulatory fee on each dollar of revenue 
generated from both interstate and international revenues. STi 
contends that, since ITSPs compete with entities paying regulatory 
fees based on a flat fee, the current regulatory fee methodology 
applicable to ITSPs puts them at a competitive disadvantage.\65\ 
Further, STi Prepaid urges the Commission to consider the size and 
scope of the carrier's resources, as well as the type of customer 
base, as grounds for regulatory fee relief.\66\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ Id. at page 4.
    \66\ Id. at page 8.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    27. In its comments, The United States Telecom Association 
(USTelecom) argues that ITSP providers pay a disproportionate share 
of the regulatory fee burden based on a methodology that was 
established in 1994, and that this burden is passed on to 
consumers.\67\ USTelecom also argues that the methodology currently 
used to calculate regulatory fees does not take into consideration 
the changes that have occurred in the communications marketplace 
since 1994 that directly impact the ITSP industry.\68\ Updating FTEs 
and proportionally allocating the cost of support bureaus, USTA 
contends, would be the first step in rectifying an otherwise 
inequitable regulatory fee methodology that disproportionally 
burdens ITSP providers.\69\ In its reply comments, STi Prepaid again 
stresses that there have been few reforms in the regulatory fee 
methodology since 1994,\70\ and argues that, consistent with similar 
arguments for reforming the regulatory fee methodology made by 
paging, submarine cable, and VHF television service licensees during 
the past several years, \71\ the Commission should ``look for ways 
to ensure that [its] regulatory fee methodologies continue to 
reflect the industries [it] regulates.\72\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ See comments of The United States Telecom Association, at 
page 1.
    \68\ Id. at pages 1-2.
    \69\ Id. at pages 1, 4-5.
    \70\ See STi Prepaid reply comments at page 1.
    \71\ Id. at pages 2-3.
    \72\ Id. at page 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    28. Section 9 of the Act permits the Commission to ``add, 
delete, or reclassify services in the [regulatory fee] Schedule to 
reflect * * * changes in the nature of * * * services as a 
consequence of Commission rulemaking proceedings or changes in 
law,'' \73\ and significant changes in telecommunications services 
and markets have unquestionably occurred as a result, inter alia, of 
the implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Our 
current fee methodology is based in part on a macro-level FTE data 
model that we instituted in FY 1999 after we discontinued attempts 
to base our fee schedule on the available cost data first used in 
1997.\74\ Since the inception of that last change to our model, both 
the industry and the Commission have undergone significant change. 
Accordingly, we agree with the notion that the proportion of 
regulatory fees paid by ITSP providers as a whole should be re-
examined. We further believe that we should consider whether and how 
our methodology for assessing regulatory fees should be changed to 
reflect other changes in the communications landscape.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \73\ 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(3).
    \74\ Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 2004, Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd. 11662, 11667, para. 12 
(2004)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    29. With respect to the specific issue of rebalancing the fees 
paid by ITSPs, we note that for a number of years, the regulatory 
fees collected from ITSP service providers have accounted for a 
significant percentage of all regulatory fees collected.\75\ In 
recent years

[[Page 41937]]

the ITSP industry has experienced a decline in revenues but, because 
ITSPs do not pay a flat regulatory fee but instead pay fees based on 
a percentage of their revenues, the regulatory fees paid by ITSP 
service providers has risen substantially.\76\ Because the comments 
to our question did not provide sufficient detail, we are unable to 
ascertain exactly how the collection of fees from end users has 
affected the operation of the ITSP service providers or to what 
extent a shift in the amount of the payment would be warranted to 
address the alleged competitive disadvantage or provide warranted 
relief to ITSP service providers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \75\ See e.g., Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for 
Fiscal Year 1997, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 17161, Attachment C 
(1997). The pro-rated revenue requirement was $64,960.438 of a total 
revenue requirement of $152,523,000.
    \76\ Between FY 2007 and FY 2009, the ITSP fee rate increased 
from $0.00266 to $0.00342 per revenue dollar. Because of further 
declines in revenue, the FY 2010 ITSP fee rate is slated to increase 
further from $.00351 (the rate set forth in the FY 2010 Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking) to $0.00364 per revenue dollar based on more 
accurate revenue projections available at the time of this Report 
and Order.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    30. Moreover, we are aware that reducing the fees paid by ITSP 
providers will increase the fees paid by licensees in other service 
categories (some of which are not able to pass the cost of the fee 
to the end user), and this could potentially impact the regulatory 
fees paid by all other entities regulated by the Commission. Unless 
we revisit the fee schedule in light of all the shifts that have 
occurred in the market for telecommunications services, and consider 
carefully what further changes may occur in the foreseeable future, 
we may succeed in addressing one anomaly while unintentionally 
creating others.
    31. In light of these considerations and consistent with the 
comments received in response to the FY 2008 Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, we acknowledge that the revenue base upon which 
the ITSP fee is calculated has been decreasing for several 
years.\77\ Therefore, we believe it would best serve the public 
interest for the Commission in FY 2010 to set the ITSP regulatory 
fee rate at $0.00349 per revenue dollar. In future years, we will 
further examine the nature and extent of all changes that need to be 
made to our regulatory fee schedule and calculations. In a separate 
and forthcoming action, we will call for comment on issues 
including, but not limited to, how changes in the telecommunications 
marketplace may warrant rebalancing of regulatory fees among 
existing service providers, and how further changes to the schedule 
of fees may be anticipated in light of new changes to the 
telecommunications landscape resulting from implementation of the 
National Broadband Plan and the introduction of other new wired and 
wireless services. This FNPRM will therefore serve two purposes: it 
will update, to the extent necessary, the record on regulatory fee 
rebalancing that we had already been contemplating for existing 
services, \78\ and it will expand this inquiry to new issues and 
services not covered by the 2008 Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \77\ The projected FY 2010 ITSP fee factor in the FY 2010 NPRM 
of $.00351 was based on December 2009 ITSP revenue data. April 2010 
ITSP revenue data, however, reflected revenues 3.4 percent lower 
than projections. This revenue decrease would have resulted in an 
increase in the resulting fee factor from the projected $.00351 to a 
fee factor of $.00364. Thus, based on the proposed methodology of 
the FY 2010 NPRM and the revised revenue numbers, the ITSP fee 
factor would have increased from $.00342 (FY 2009 ITSP fee rate) to 
$.00364. The concerns of these providers, which collectively 
represent 46.82 percent of all regulatory fees paid in any given 
year, resulted in the adoption, as an interim measure, an ITSP fee 
rate at $.00349, which is a 2.1% increase from FY 2009. We find this 
to be a reasonable interim measure pending our review of whether 
part of that 46.82 percent of the regulatory fee burden might be 
moved from ITSP in the context of fundamental reform.
    \78\ The Commission has acted on several of the issues raised in 
the FY 2008 Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking, including implementation of (1) a change in the bearer 
circuit methodology for calculating regulatory fees, and (2) the 
elimination of two regulatory fee categories, the International 
Public Fixed Radio and International High Frequency Broadcast 
Stations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Administrative and Operational Issues

    32. In FY 2009, the Commission implemented several changes in 
procedures which simplified the payment and reconciliation processes 
of FY 2009 regulatory fees. These changes proved to be very helpful 
to both licensees and to the Commission, and we propose in the 
following paragraphs to expand upon these improvements. In FY 2010, 
the Commission will promote greater use of technology (and less use 
of paper) to improve the regulatory fee notification and collection 
process.

1. Mandatory Use of Fee Filer

    33. In FY 2009, we required that all regulatees use the 
Commission's electronic filing and payment system (also known as 
``Fee Filer'').\79\ Licensees filing their annual regulatory fee 
payments were required to begin the process by entering the 
Commission's Fee Filer system with a valid FRN and password. This 
change was beneficial to both licensees and to the Commission. For 
licensees, the mandatory use of Fee Filer eliminated the need to 
manually complete and submit a hardcopy Form 159, and for the 
Commission, having the data in electronic format made it much easier 
to process payments more efficiently and effectively. Because of the 
success of this process change, we proposed in the FY 2010 NPRM to 
continue to make the use of Fee Filer mandatory as the starting 
point for filing annual regulatory fees. We sought comment on this 
proposal, but received no comments or reply comments on this 
specific issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \79\ FY 2009 Report and Order at paras. 20 and 21.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    34. The mandatory use of Fee Filer does not mean that licensees 
are expected to pay only through Fee Filer--it is only mandatory for 
licensees to begin the process of filing their annual regulatory 
fees using Fee Filer. This is one reason it is very important for 
licensees to have a current and valid FRN address on file in the 
Commission's Registration System (CORES). Going forward, only Form 
159-E documents generated from Fee Filer will be permitted when 
sending in a regulatory fee payment to U.S. Bank. These Form 159-E's 
not only will reduce errors resulting from illegible handwriting on 
hardcopy Form 159's, but, because they are generated from Fee Filer, 
these forms also will create an electronic record of licensee 
payment attributes that are more easily tracked and searched than 
hardcopy Form 159's completed manually and mailed to the Commission. 
Hence, in FY 2010, we conclude that regulatees must start the FY 
2010 regulatory fee payment process using the Commission's 
electronic filing and payment system (``Fee Filer'').

2. Notification and Collection of Regulatory Fees

a. Pre-Bills

    35. In prior years, the Commission mailed pre-bills via surface 
mail to licensees in select regulatory fee categories: Interstate 
telecommunications service providers (``ITSPs''), Geostationary 
(``GSO'') and Non-Geostationary (``NGSO'') satellite space station 
licensees,\80\ holders of Cable Television Relay Service (``CARS'') 
licenses, and Earth Station licensees.\81\ The remaining regulatees 
did not receive pre-bills. In our FY 2009 Report and Order, the 
Commission decided to have the attributes of these pre-bills viewed 
in Fee Filer, rather than mailing pre-bills out to licensees via 
surface mail.\82\ Overall, the response to this procedural change 
was positive. In our FY 2010 NPRM, the Commission again proposed to 
continue the practice of not mailing out annual regulatory fee 
bills. We sought comment on this issue, and received one comment 
from the American Cable Association (ACA).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \80\ Geostationary orbit space station (``GSO'') licensees 
received regulatory fee pre-bills for satellites that (1) were 
licensed by the Commission and operational on or before October 1 of 
the respective fiscal year; and (2) were not co-located with and 
technically identical to another operational satellite on that date 
(i.e., were not functioning as a spare satellite). Non-geostationary 
orbit space station (``NGSO'') licensees received regulatory fee 
pre-bills for systems that were licensed by the Commission and 
operational on or before October 1 of the respective fiscal year.
    \81\ An assessment is a proposed statement of the amount of 
regulatory fees owed by an entity to the Commission (or proposed 
subscriber count to be ascribed for purposes of setting the entity's 
regulatory fee) but it is not entered into the Commission's 
accounting system as a current debt. A pre-bill is considered an 
account receivable in the Commission's accounting system. Pre-bills 
reflect the amount owed and have a payment due date of the last day 
of the regulatory fee payment window. Consequently, if a pre-bill is 
not paid by the due date, it becomes delinquent and is subject to 
our debt collection procedures. See also 47 CFR 1.1161(c), 
1.1164(f)(5), and 1.1910.
    \82\ See FY 2009 Report and Order at paras. 24, 26.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    36. ACA urges the Commission to send e-mails to CARS and Earth 
Station licensees to notify them when pre-bills are loaded into Fee 
Filer for viewing, and to mail a final hardcopy notice to these 
licensees on how to log-in to Fee Filer and access the pre-bill.\83\ 
As an association of small and medium-sized cable companies, ACA 
believes that many of its member entities are not able to keep up 
with the Commission's rules and regulations, and therefore the 
Commission should make more of an effort to reach out to these 
entities regarding regulatory fees.\84\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \83\ See comments of the American Cable Association (ACA) at 
page 1.
    \84\ Id. at pages 2-3.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 41938]]

    37. We agree with ACA that many small and medium-sized 
regulatees do not have the same resources as large regulatees to 
monitor Commission rulings on a regular basis. However, we are not 
imposing any significant burden on these small to medium-sized 
regulatees. Historically, regulatory fees have always been due in an 
August or September timeframe, and the due date is generally posted 
on the Commission-wide Web site weeks before the fee deadline. 
Hence, by checking the Commission's Web site periodically beginning 
in July, regulatees will be able to ascertain the fee due date, and 
receive instructions on how to access Fee Filer, view their bill, 
and make a fee payment.
    38. With respect to ACA's recommendation to send e-mails to CARS 
and Earth Station licensees as a form of notification, the 
Commission does not maintain a systematic listing of e-mail 
addresses for individual CARS and Earth Station licensees, and 
sending out e-mails that are not necessarily current in the 
Commission's licensing systems may not result in adequate 
notification. However, once Fee Filer is open to licensees, a public 
notice will be placed on the Commission's Web site, which will 
provide the signal for licensees to begin viewing their pre-bill 
information online. Until the Commission is able to maintain a 
current, systematic listing of licensee e-mails, the use of 
Commission e-mails would provide less than adequate notification.

III. Procedural Matters

    39. Included below are procedural items as well as our current 
payment and collection methods, which we have revised over the past 
several years to expedite the processing of regulatory fee payments. 
We include these payments and collection procedures here as a useful 
way of reminding regulatory fee payers and the public about these 
aspects of the annual regulatory fee collection process.

A. Public Notices and Fact Sheets

    40. Each year we post public notices and fact sheets pertaining 
to regulatory fees on our Web site. These documents contain 
information about the payment due date and the regulatory fee 
payment procedures. We will continue to post this information on 
http://www.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html, but as in previous years we 
will not send public notices and fact sheets to regulatees.

B. Assessment Notifications

1. Media Services Licensees

    41. Beginning in FY 2003, we sent fee assessment notifications 
via surface mail to media services entities on a per-facility 
basis.\85\ The notifications provided the assessed fee amount for 
the facility in question, as well as the data attributes that 
determined the fee amount. We have since refined this initiative 
with improved results.\86\ Consistent with procedures used last 
year, we will mail media assessment notifications to licensees in FY 
2010 at their primary record of contact in our Consolidated Database 
System (``CDBS''), and to a secondary record of contact, if 
available.\87\ However, after FY 2010, as part of the Commission's 
initiative to emphasize electronic filing and reduce paper usage, 
the Commission will stop mailing out media notification assessments 
to media licensees. Instead the Commission will rely more on its 
various Web sites, including the Commission-authorized Web site at 
www.fccfees.com, to notify licensees of pending annual regulatory 
fees and to update or correct any information regarding their 
facilities and their fee-exempt status.\88\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \85\ As stated previously at footnote 41, an assessment is a 
proposed statement of the amount of regulatory fees owed by an 
entity to the Commission (or proposed subscriber count to be 
ascribed for purposes of setting the entity's regulatory fee) but it 
is not entered into the Commission's accounting system as a current 
debt.
    \86\ Some of those refinements have been to provide licensees 
with a Commission-authorized Web site to update or correct any 
information concerning their facilities, and to amend their fee-
exempt status, if need be. Also, our notifications now provide 
licensees with a telephone number to call in the event that they 
need customer assistance. The notifications themselves have been 
refined so that licensees of fewer than four facilities receive 
individual fee assessment postcards for their facilities; whereas 
licensees of four or more facilities now receive a single assessment 
letter that lists all of their facilities and the associated 
regulatory fee obligation for each facility.
    \87\ We will issue fee assessments for AM and FM Radio Stations, 
AM and FM Construction Permits, FM Translators/Boosters, VHF and UHF 
Television Stations, VHF and UHF Television Construction Permits, 
Satellite Television Stations, Low Power Television (``LPTV'') 
Stations and LPTV Translators/Boosters, to the extent that 
applicants, permittees and licensees of such facilities do not 
qualify as government entities or non-profit entities. As in prior 
years, fee assessments will not be issued for broadcast auxiliary 
stations.
    \88\ If there is a change of address for the facility, it is the 
licensee's responsibility to make the address change in the Media 
Bureau's CDBS system, as well as in the Commission's Registration 
System (``CORES''). There is also a Commission-authorized Web site 
that media services licensees can use to view and update their 
exempt status (http://www.fccfees.com).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    42. The decision to discontinue mailing media notifications 
beginning in FY 2011 is consistent with the Commission's effort to 
become more electronic and less paper-oriented. However, the 
Commission understands that not all media licensees are able to 
access the Commission's various electronic Web sites once the 
hardcopy notification letters are discontinued in FY 2011. 
Therefore, to be receptive to the needs of these licensees, the 
Commission will allow more time for comment by leaving the comment 
and reply comment period open until September 30, 2010 on the 
specific issue of whether the media notification letters should be 
discontinued in FY 2011. Because this decision does not impact FY 
2010 regulatory fees, we will be addressing this issue in the 
Commission's FY 2011 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking after we have 
reviewed the various comments and reply comments submitted. The 
Commission will also remind media licensees of this proposed change 
in notification procedures for next year when it sends out letters 
to media licensees regarding their FY 2010 regulatory fee 
obligations. To ensure that the comments of all potentially affected 
persons are properly included in the record, media licensees should 
submit their comments and reply comments on this issue as follows:
     Comments and Replies. Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 
1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested 
parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates 
indicated on the first page of this document. Comments may be filed 
using: (1) The Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), 
(2) the Federal Government's eRulemaking Portal, or (3) by filing 
paper copies. See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking 
Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/ or the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and four copies of each filing. If more than one 
docket or rulemaking number appears in the caption of this 
proceeding, filers must submit two additional copies for each 
additional docket or rulemaking number.
     All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings 
for the Commission's Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters 
at 445 12th St., SW., Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. All hand 
deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any 
envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building.
     Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal 
Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East 
Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743.
     U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority 
mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., Washington DC 20554.
     People with Disabilities. To request materials in 
accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large 
print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to 
[email protected] or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau 
at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY).
     Availability of Documents. Comments, reply comments, 
and ex parte submissions will be available for public inspection 
during regular business hours in the FCC Reference Center, Federal 
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., CY-A257, 
Washington, DC 20554. These documents will also be available free 
online, via ECFS. Documents will be available electronically in 
ASCII, Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat.
     Accessibility Information. To request information in 
accessible formats (computer diskettes, large print, audio 
recording, and braille), send an e-mail to [email protected] or call 
the Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 
418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY). This document can also be 
downloaded in Word and Portable Document Format (``PDF'') at: http://www.fcc.gov.
    43. Although the Commission will mail media assessment 
notifications to licensees in FY 2010, all licensees (including 
media services) will be required to use Fee Filer as the first step 
in paying their regulatory fee obligations. The notification 
assessments

[[Page 41939]]

provide licensees with the same media data attributes found in Fee 
Filer. However, we caution licensees not to send in these 
notification assessments as a substitute for using Fee Filer as the 
first step in filing and paying annual regulatory fees. As explained 
previously, licensees must first log onto the Commission's Fee Filer 
system to begin the process of filing and paying their regulatory 
fees, but once in Fee Filer, licensees may pay by check or money 
order, credit card, or wire transfer. A Form 159-E generated from 
Fee Filer is required when mailing in the annual regulatory fee 
payment.

2. CMRS Cellular and Mobile Services Assessments

    44. As we have done in prior years, we will mail an initial 
assessment letter to Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) 
providers using data from the Numbering Resource Utilization 
Forecast (``NRUF'') report that is based on ``assigned'' number 
counts that have been adjusted for porting to net Type 0 ports 
(``in'' and ``out'').\89\ The letter will include a listing of the 
carrier's Operating Company Numbers (``OCNs'') upon which the 
assessment is based.\90\ The letters will not include OCNs with 
their respective assigned number counts, but rather, an aggregate 
total of assigned numbers for each carrier.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \89\ See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 2005 and Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for 
Fiscal Year 2004, MD Docket Nos. 05-59 and 04-73, Report and Order 
and Order on Reconsideration, 20 FCC Rcd 12259, 12264, paras. 38-44 
(2005).
    \90\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    45. If the carrier does not agree with the number of subscribers 
listed on the initial assessment letter, the carrier will have an 
opportunity within a specific timeframe to revise the subscriber 
count by submitting supporting documentation to substantiate the 
change. However, instead of mailing the revised figures, providers 
will be asked to access Fee Filer and follow the instructions 
provided in order to submit their revised subscriber count along 
with any supporting documentation.\91\ The Commission will then 
review the revised count and supporting documentation and either 
approve or disapprove the submission in Fee Filer. The provider will 
be able to review the decision online in Fee Filer. If the 
submission is disapproved, the Commission will attempt to contact 
the provider so that the provider will have an opportunity to 
discuss its revised subscriber count and/or provide additional 
supporting documentation. If we receive no response or correction to 
the initial assessment letter, or we do not reverse the disapproval 
of the provider's revised count submission, we will expect the fee 
payment to be based on the number of subscribers listed on the 
initial assessment. Once the timeframe for revision has passed, the 
subscriber counts will be finalized. These subscriber counts will 
then be the basis upon which CMRS regulatory fees will be assessed. 
Providers will be able to view their final subscriber counts online 
in Fee Filer. A final CMRS assessment letter will not be mailed out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \91\ In the supporting documentation, the provider will need to 
state a reason for the change, such as a purchase or sale of a 
subsidiary, the date of the transaction, and any other pertinent 
information that will help to justify the change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    46. Because some carriers do not file the NRUF report, they may 
not receive an initial letter of assessment. In these instances, the 
carriers should compute their fee payment using the standard 
methodology \92\ that is currently in place for CMRS Wireless 
services (e.g., compute their subscriber counts as of December 31, 
2009), and submit their fee payment accordingly. Whether a carrier 
receives an assessment letter or not, the Commission reserves the 
right to audit the number of subscribers for which regulatory fees 
are paid. If the Commission determines that the number of 
subscribers paid is inaccurate, the Commission will bill the carrier 
for the difference between what was paid and what should have been 
paid.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \92\ See, e.g., Federal Communications Commission, Regulatory 
Fees Fact Sheet: What You Owe--Commercial Wireless Services for FY 
2009 at 1 (released September 2009).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Streamlined Regulatory Fee Payment Process

1. Cable Television Subscribers

    47. We will continue to permit cable television operators to 
base their regulatory fee payment on their company's aggregate year-
end subscriber count, rather than requiring them to sub-report 
subscriber counts on a per community unit identifier (``CUID'') 
basis.

2. CMRS Cellular and Mobile Providers

    48. In FY 2006, we streamlined the CMRS payment process by 
eliminating the requirement for CMRS providers to identify their 
individual call signs when making their regulatory fee payment, 
instead allowing CMRS providers to pay their regulatory fees only at 
the aggregate subscriber level without having to identify their 
various call signs.\93\ We will continue this practice in FY 2010. 
In FY 2007, we consolidated the CMRS cellular and CMRS mobile fee 
categories into one fee category with a single fee code, thereby 
eliminating the requirement for CMRS providers to separate their 
subscriber counts into CMRS cellular and CMRS mobile fee categories 
during the regulatory fee payment process. This consolidation of fee 
categories enabled the Commission to process payments more quickly 
and accurately. For FY 2010, we will continue this practice of 
combining the CMRS cellular and CMRS mobile fee categories into one 
regulatory fee category.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \93\ See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal 
Year 2006, MD Docket No. 06-68, Report and Order, 21 FCC Rcd 8092, 
8105, para. 48 (2006).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (``ITSP'')

    49. In FY 2007, we adopted a proposal to round lines 14 (total 
subject revenues) and 16 (total regulatory fee owed) on FCC Form 
159-W to the nearest dollar. This revision enabled the Commission to 
process the ITSP regulatory fee payments more quickly because 
rounding was performed in a consistent manner and eliminated 
processing issues that occurred in prior years. In FY 2010, we will 
continue rounding lines 14 and 16 when calculating the FY 2010 ITSP 
fee obligation. In addition, as in FY 2009, we will continue the 
practice of not mailing out Form 159-W via surface mail.

D. Payment of Regulatory Fees

1. Lock Box Bank

    50. All lock box payments to the Commission for FY 2010 will be 
processed by U.S. Bank, St. Louis, Missouri, and payable to the FCC. 
During the regulatory fee season, for those licensees paying by 
check, money order, or by credit card using Form 159-E remittance 
advice, the fee payment and Form 159-E remittance advice should be 
mailed to the following address: Federal Communications Commission, 
Regulatory Fees, P.O. Box 979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000. 
Additional payment options and instructions are posted at http://www.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html.

2. Receiving Bank for Wire Payments

    51. The receiving bank for all wire payments is the Federal 
Reserve Bank, New York, New York (TREAS NYC). When making a wire 
transfer, regulatees must fax a copy of their Fee Filer generated 
Form 159-E to U.S. Bank, St. Louis, Missouri at (314) 418-4232 at 
least one hour before initiating the wire transfer (but on the same 
business day), so as to not delay crediting their account. 
Regulatees should discuss arrangements (including bank closing 
schedules) with their bankers several days before they plan to make 
the wire transfer to allow sufficient time for the transfer to be 
initiated and completed before the deadline. Complete instructions 
for making wire payments are posted at http://www.fcc.gov/fees/wiretran.html.

3. De Minimis Regulatory Fees

    52. Regulatees whose total FY 2010 regulatory fee liability, 
including all categories of fees for which payment is due, is less 
than $10 are exempted from payment of FY 2010 regulatory fees.

4. Standard Fee Calculations and Payment Dates

    53. The Commission will accept fee payments made in advance of 
the window for the payment of regulatory fees. The responsibility 
for payment of fees by service category is as follows:
     Media Services: Regulatory fees must be paid for 
initial construction permits (including construction permits for 
digital television stations) that were granted on or before October 
1, 2009 for AM/FM radio stations, VHF/UHF full service television 
stations, and satellite television stations. Beginning in FY 2010, 
the digital-only exemption for full service VHF and UHF television 
stations is no longer applicable; with respect to other media 
services, such as Low Power Television, and TV Translators and 
Boosters, there is no exemption for having digital service. 
Regulatory fees must be paid for all broadcast facility licenses 
granted on or before October 1, 2009. In instances where a permit or 
license is transferred or assigned after October 1, 2009, 
responsibility for payment rests with the

[[Page 41940]]

holder of the permit or license as of the fee due date.
     Wireline (Common Carrier) Services: Regulatory fees 
must be paid for authorizations that were granted on or before 
October 1, 2009. In instances where a permit or license is 
transferred or assigned after October 1, 2009, responsibility for 
payment rests with the holder of the permit or license as of the fee 
due date. We note that audio bridging service providers are included 
in this category.\94\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \94\ Audio bridging services are toll teleconferencing services, 
and audio bridging service providers are required to contribute 
directly to the universal service fund based on revenues from these 
services. On June 30, 2008, the Commission released the InterCall 
Order, in which the Commission stated that InterCall, Inc. and all 
similarly situated audio bridging service providers are required to 
contribute directly to the universal service fund. See Request for 
Review by InterCall, Inc. of Decision of Universal Service 
Administrator, CC Docket No. 96-45, Order, 23 FCC Rcd 10731 (2008) 
(``InterCall Order'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Wireless Services: CMRS cellular, mobile, and messaging 
services (fees based on number of subscribers or telephone number 
count): Regulatory fees must be paid for authorizations that were 
granted on or before October 1, 2009. The number of subscribers, 
units, or telephone numbers on December 31, 2009 will be used as the 
basis from which to calculate the fee payment. In instances where a 
permit or license is transferred or assigned after October 1, 2009, 
responsibility for payment rests with the holder of the permit or 
license as of the fee due date.
     The first eleven regulatory fee categories in our 
Schedule of Regulatory Fees (see Appendix C) pay ``small multi-year 
wireless regulatory fees.'' Entities pay these regulatory fees in 
advance for the entire amount of their five-year or ten-year term of 
initial license, and only pay regulatory fees again when the license 
is renewed or a new license is obtained. We include these fee 
categories in our Schedule of Regulatory Fees to publicize our 
estimates of the number of ``small multi-year wireless'' licenses 
that will be renewed or newly obtained in FY 2010.
     Multichannel Video Programming Distributor Services 
(cable television operators and CARS licensees): Regulatory fees 
must be paid for the number of basic cable television subscribers as 
of December 31, 2009.\95\ Regulatory fees also must be paid for CARS 
licenses that were granted on or before October 1, 2009. In 
instances where a permit or license is transferred or assigned after 
October 1, 2009, responsibility for payment rests with the holder of 
the permit or license as of the fee due date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \95\ Cable television system operators should compute their 
basic subscribers as follows: Number of single family dwellings + 
number of individual households in multiple dwelling unit 
(apartments, condominiums, mobile home parks, etc.) paying at the 
basic subscriber rate + bulk rate customers + courtesy and free 
service. Note: Bulk-Rate Customers = Total annual bulk-rate charge 
divided by basic annual subscription rate for individual households. 
Operators may base their count on ``a typical day in the last full 
week'' of December 2009, rather than on a count as of December 31, 
2009.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     International Services: Regulatory fees must be paid 
for earth stations, geostationary orbit space stations and non-
geostationary orbit satellite systems that were licensed and 
operational on or before October 1, 2009. In instances where a 
permit or license is transferred or assigned after October 1, 2009, 
responsibility for payment rests with the holder of the permit or 
license as of the fee due date.
     International Services: Submarine Cable Systems: 
Regulatory fees for submarine cable systems are to be paid on a per 
cable landing license basis based on circuit capacity as of December 
31, 2009. In instances where a license is transferred or assigned 
after October 1, 2009, responsibility for payment rests with the 
holder of the license as of the fee due date.
     International Services: Terestrial and Satellite 
Services: Finally, regulatory fees for International Bearer Circuits 
are to be paid by facilities-based common carriers that have active 
(used or leased) international bearer circuits as of December 31, 
2009 in any terrestrial or satellite transmission facility for the 
provision of service to an end user or resale carrier, which 
includes active circuits to themselves or to their affiliates. In 
addition, non-common carrier satellite operators must pay a fee for 
each circuit sold or leased to any customer, including themselves or 
their affiliates, other than an international common carrier 
authorized by the Commission to provide U.S. international common 
carrier services. ``Active circuits'' for these purposes include 
backup and redundant circuits as of December 31, 2009. Whether 
circuits are used specifically for voice or data is not relevant for 
these purposes in determining that they are active circuits. In 
instances where a permit or license is transferred or assigned after 
October 1, 2009, responsibility for payment rests with the holder of 
the permit or license as of the fee due date.

E. Enforcement

    54. To be considered timely, regulatory fee payments must be 
received and stamped at the lockbox bank by the last day of the 
regulatory fee filing window. Section 9(c) of the Act requires us to 
impose an additional charge as a penalty for late payment of any 
regulatory fee.\96\ A late payment penalty of 25 percent of the 
unpaid amount of the required regulatory fee will be assessed on the 
first day following the deadline date for filing of these fees. 
Failure to pay regulatory fees and/or any late penalty will subject 
regulatees to sanctions, including those set forth in section 1.1910 
of the Commission's Rules \97\ and in the Debt Collection 
Improvement Act of 1996 (``DCIA'').\98\ We also assess 
administrative processing charges on delinquent debts to recover 
additional costs incurred in processing and handling the related 
debt pursuant to the DCIA and section 1.1940(d) of the Commission's 
rules.\99\ These administrative processing charges will be assessed 
on any delinquent regulatory fee, in addition to the 25 percent late 
charge penalty. In case of partial payments (underpayments) of 
regulatory fees, the licensee will be given credit for the amount 
paid, but if it is later determined that the fee paid is incorrect 
or not timely paid, then the 25 percent late charge penalty (and 
other charges and/or sanctions, as appropriate) will be assessed on 
the portion that is not paid in a timely manner.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \96\ 47 U.S.C. 159(c).
    \97\ See 47 CFR 1.1910.
    \98\ Delinquent debt owed to the Commission triggers application 
of the ``red light rule'' which requires offsets or holds on pending 
disbursements. 47 CFR 1.1910. In 2004, the Commission adopted rules 
implementing the requirements of the DCIA. See Amendment of Parts 0 
and 1 of the Commission's Rules, MD Docket No. 02-339, Report and 
Order, 19 FCC Rcd 6540 (2004); 47 CFR Part 1, Subpart O, Collection 
of Claims Owed the United States.
    \99\ 47 CFR 1.1940(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    55. We will withhold action on any applications or other 
requests for benefits filed by anyone who is delinquent in any non-
tax debts owed to the Commission (including regulatory fees) and 
will ultimately dismiss those applications or other requests if 
payment of the delinquent debt or other satisfactory arrangement for 
payment is not made.\100\ 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).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \100\ See 47 CFR 1.1161(c), 1.1164(f)(5), and 1.1910.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    56. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 
(``RFA''),\101\ the Commission has prepared a Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (``FRFA'') relating to this Report and Order. 
The FRFA is set for in Appendix F.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \101\ See 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, see 5 U.S.C. 601-612, has been 
amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996 (``SBREFA''), Public Law 104-121, Title II, 110 Stat. 847 
(1996). The SBREFA was enacted as Title II of the Contract With 
America Advancement Act of 1996 (``CWAAA'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

G. Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis

    57. This Report and Order does not contain proposed information 
collection requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 
1995 (``PRA''), Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does 
not contain any new or modified information collection burden for 
small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to 
the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, 
see 44 U.S.C. 3506 (c) (4). Completion of the 159 family of forms 
required by the Commission's regulatory fee payment process is 
already approved by the Office of Management and Budget under 
information collections 3060-0589 and 3060-0949.

H. Congressional Review Act Analysis

    58. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order in 
a report to be sent to Congress and the Government Accountability 
Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act.\102\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \102\ See 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). The Congressional Review Act is 
contained in Title II, 251, of the CWAAA; see Public Law 104-121, 
Title II, 251, 110 Stat. 868.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 41941]]

IV. Ordering Clauses

    59. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to sections 4(i) 
and (j), 9, and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), 159, and 303(r), this Report and 
Order is hereby adopted.
    60. It is further ordered that the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall 
send a copy of this Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis in Appendix F, to the Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 1 Administrative Practice and 
Procedure

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene H. Dortch,
Secretary.

APPENDIX A

                           List of Commenters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Commenter                        Abbreviated name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
American Association of       ``AAPC.''
 Paging Carriers.
American Cable Association..  ``ACA.''
Robert Bittner..............  ``Robert Bittner.''
Fireweed Communications, LLC  ``Fireweed.''
Global Crossing North         ``GCNA.''
 America, Inc.
Edward A. Schober,            ``Radiotechniques Engineering.''
 Radiotechniques
 Engineering, LLC.
STi Prepaid, LLC............  ``STi Prepaid.''
The United States Telecom     ``USTelecom.''
 Association.
VHF Digital Stations........  ``VHF Digital Stations.''
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                        List of Reply Commenters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Commenter                        Abbreviated name
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Crossing North         ``GCNA.''
 America, Inc.
Alex Goldman................  ``Alex Goldman.''
Qwest Communications          ``Qwest.''
 International, Inc.
STi Prepaid, LLC............  ``STi Prepaid.''
Verizon.....................  ``Verizon.''
------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX B

Calculation of FY 2010 Revenue Requirements and Pro-Rata Fees

    Regulatory fees for the categories shaded in gray are collected 
by the Commission in advance to cover the term of the license and 
are submitted along with the application at the time the application 
is filed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                 Computed new  Rounded  new
                                                      FY 2010 Payment                   FY 2009    Pro-Rated FY     FY 2010       FY 2010      Expected
                    Fee category                           units           Years        Revenue    2010 revenue   regulatory    regulatory     FY 2010
                                                                                       estimate     requirement       fee           fee        revenue
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLMRS (Exclusive Use)..............................              1,200           10       480,000       469,912            39            40      480,000
PLMRS (Shared use).................................             11,500           10     2,300,000     2,251,662            20            20    2,300,000
Microwave..........................................              9,500           10     2,250,000     2,202,713            23            25    2,375,000
218-219 MHz (Formerly IVDS)........................                  3           10         1,950         1,909            64            65        1,950
Marine (Ship)......................................              8,000           10       750,000       734,238             9            10      800,000
GMRS...............................................              9,700            5       275,000       269,220             6             5      242,500
Aviation (Aircraft)................................              4,600           10       350,000       342,644             7             5      230,000
Marine (Coast).....................................                265           10       123,750       121,149            46            45      119,250
Aviation (Ground)..................................              1,500           10       150,000       146,848            10            10      150,000
Amateur Vanity Call Signs..........................             14,800           10       201,000       196,776          1.33          1.33      196,840
AM Class A \4a\....................................                 68            1       248,625       253,752         3,732         3,725      253,300
AM Class B \4b\....................................              1,566            1     2,977,300     3,038,695         1,940         1,950    3,053,700
AM Class C \4c\....................................                918            1     1,055,250     1,077,010         1,173         1,175    1,078,650
AM Class D \4d\....................................              1,689            1     3,515,750     3,588,249         2,124         2,125    3,589,125
FM Classes A, B1 & C3 \4e\.........................              3,104            1     7,384,125     7,374,954         2,376         2,375    7,372,000
FM Classes B, C, C0, C1 & C2 \4f\..................              3,129            1     9,076,725     9,285,549         2,968         2,975    9,308,775
AM Construction Permits............................                112            1        42,800        43,683           390           390       43,680
FM Construction Permits \1\........................                156            1       145,600       105,300           675           675      105,300
Satellite TV.......................................                126            1       161,925       165,264         1,312         1,300      163,800
Satellite TV Construction Permit...................                  3            1         1,950         1,990           663           675        2,025
VHF Markets 1-10...................................                 20            1     3,258,150     1,631,100        81,555        81,550    1,631,000
VHF Markets 11-25..................................                 27            1     3,330,250     1,708,429        63,275        63,275    1,708,425
VHF Markets 26-50..................................                 33            1     2,818,125     1,404,112        42,549        42,550    1,404,150
VHF Markets 51-100.................................                 48            1     2,708,100     1,140,215        23,754        23,750    1,140,000
VHF Remaining Markets..............................                122            1     1,190,000       747,235         6,125         6,125      747,250
VHF Construction Permits \1\.......................                  3            1        17,850        18,375         6,125         6,125       18,375

[[Page 41942]]

 
UHF Markets 1-10...................................                117            1     2,109,750     3,776,478        32,278        32,275    3,775,175
UHF Markets 11-25..................................                113            1     1,743,525     3,399,110        30,081        30,075    3,398,475
UHF Markets 26-50..................................                154            1     1,468,500     2,908,952        18,889        18,900    2,910,600
UHF Markets 51-100.................................                245            1     1,246,400     2,828,382        11,544        11,550    2,829,750
UHF Remaining Markets..............................                274            1       380,250       836,331         3,052         3,050      835,700
UHF Construction Permits \1\.......................                 12            1        29,250        36,600         3,050         3,050       36,600
Broadcast Auxiliaries..............................             27,500            1       275,000       280,671            10            10      275,000
LPTV/Translators/Boosters/Class A TV...............              3,400            1     1,380,000     1,408,457           414           415    1,411,000
CARS Stations......................................                550            1       169,000       172,485           314           315      173,250
Cable TV Systems...................................         64,500,000            1    56,760,000    57,545,458       0.89218          0.89   57,405,000
Interstate Telecommunication Service Providers.....    $43,300,000,000            1   160,056,000   151,290,200    0.00349400       0.00349  151,117,000
CMRS Mobile Services (Cellular/Public Mobile)......        283,000,000            1    49,680,000    50,796,008        0.1795          0.18   50,940,000
CMRS Messag. Services..............................          6,000,000            1       560,000       480,000        0.0800         0.080      480,000
BRS \2\ LMDS.......................................              1,660            1       552,000       514,600           310           310      514,600
                                                                   510            1       107,200       158,100           310           310      158,100
Per 64 kbps Int'l Bearer Circuits Terrestrial                2,898,033            1     1,111,779     1,130,306          .390           .39    1,130,233
 (Common) & Satellite (Common & Non-Common)........
Submarine Cable Providers (see chart in Appendix C)              34.13            1     7,818,040     7,983,656       233,919       233,925    7,983,860
 \3\...............................................
Earth Stations.....................................              3,600            1       850,500       868,038           241           240      864,000
Space Stations (Geostationary).....................                 87            1    11,064,225    11,130,522       127,937       127,925   11,129,475
Space Stations (Non-Geostationary).................                  6            1       823,350       828,283       138,047       138,050      828,300
                                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Estimated Revenue to be Collected........  .................  ...........   342,998,994   336,693,623  ............  ............  336,712,213
                                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Revenue Requirement......................  .................  ...........   341,875,000   335,794,000  ............  ............  335,794,000
                                                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Difference.....................................  .................  ...........     1,123,994       899,623  ............  ............      918,213
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The FM Construction Permit revenues and the VHF and UHF Construction Permit revenues were adjusted to set the regulatory fee to an amount no higher
  than the lowest licensed fee for that class of service. The reductions in the FM Construction Permit revenues are offset by increases in the revenue
  totals for FM radio stations. Similarly, reductions in the VHF and UHF Construction Permit revenues are offset by increases in the revenue totals for
  VHF and UHF television stations, respectively.
\2\ MDS/MMDS category was renamed Broadband Radio Service (BRS). See Amendment of Parts 1, 21, 73, 74 and 101 of the Commission's Rules to Facilitate
  the Provision of Fixed and Mobile Broadband Access, Educational and Other Advanced Services in the 2150-2162 and 2500-2690 MHz Bands, Report & Order
  and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 19 FCC Rcd 14165, 14169, para. 6 (2004).
\3\ The chart at the end of Appendix B lists the submarine cable bearer circuit regulatory fees (common and non-common carrier basis) that resulted from
  the adoption of the following proceedings: Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2008, Second Report and Order (MD Docket No.
  08-65, RM-11312), released March 24, 2009; and Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009 and Assessment and Collection of
  Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2008, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (MD Docket No. 09-65, MD Docket No. 08-65), released on May 14, 2009.
\4\ The fee amounts listed in the column entitled ``Rounded New FY 2010 Regulatory Fee'' constitute a weighted average media regulatory fee by class of
  service. The actual FY 2010 regulatory fees for AM/FM radio station are listed on a grid located in Appendix B.

APPENDIX C

FY 2010 Schedule of Regulatory Fees

    Regulatory fees for the categories shaded in gray are collected 
by the Commission in advance to cover the term of the license and 
are submitted along with the application at the time the application 
is filed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       Annual regulatory
                    Fee category                         fee (U.S. $s)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLMRS (per license) (Exclusive Use) (47 CFR part 90)                  40
Microwave (per license) (47 CFR part 101)...........                  25
218-219 MHz (Formerly Interactive Video Data                          65
 Service) (per license) (47 CFR part 95)............
Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR part 80)........                  10
Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR part 80).......                  45
General Mobile Radio Service (per license) (47 CFR                     5
 part 95)...........................................
Rural Radio (47 CFR part 22) (previously listed                       20
 under the Land Mobile category)....................
PLMRS (Shared Use) (per license) (47 CFR part 90)...                  20
Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47 CFR part 87)..                   5
Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47 CFR part 87)....                  10

[[Page 41943]]

 
Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call sign) (47 CFR                   1.33
 part 97)...........................................
CMRS Mobile/Cellular Services (per unit) (47 CFR                     .18
 parts 20, 22, 24, 27, 80 and 90)...................
CMRS Messaging Services (per unit) (47 CFR parts 20,                 .08
 22, 24 and 90).....................................
Broadband Radio Service (formerly MMDS/MDS) (per                     310
 license) (47 CFR part 21)..........................
Local Multipoint Distribution Service (per call                      310
 sign) (47 CFR part 101)............................
AM Radio Construction Permits.......................                 390
FM Radio Construction Permits.......................                 675
TV (47 CFR part 73) VHF Commercial:
    Markets 1-10....................................              81,550
    Markets 11-25...................................              63,275
    Markets 26-50...................................              42,550
    Markets 51-100..................................              23,750
    Remaining Markets...............................               6,125
    Construction Permits............................               6,125
TV (47 CFR part 73) UHF Commercial:
    Markets 1-10....................................              32,275
    Markets 11-25...................................              30,075
    Markets 26-50...................................              18,900
    Markets 51-100..................................              11,550
    Remaining Markets...............................               3,050
    Construction Permits............................               3,050
Satellite Television Stations (All Markets).........               1,300
Construction Permits--Satellite Television Stations.                 675
Low Power TV, Class A TV, TV/FM Translators &                        415
 Boosters (47 CFR part 74)..........................
Broadcast Auxiliaries (47 CFR part 74)..............                  10
CARS (47 CFR part 78)...............................                 315
Cable Television Systems (per subscriber) (47 CFR                    .89
 part 76)...........................................
Interstate Telecommunication Service Providers (per               .00349
 revenue dollar)....................................
Earth Stations (47 CFR part 25).....................                 240
Space Stations (per operational station in                       127,925
 geostationary orbit) (47 CFR part 25) also includes
 DBS Service (per operational station) (47 CFR part
 100)...............................................
Space Stations (per operational system in non-                   138,050
 geostationary orbit) (47 CFR part 25)..............
International Bearer Circuits--Terrestrial/                          .39
 Satellites (per 64 KB circuit).....................
International Bearer Circuits--Submarine Cable......     See Table Below
------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2010 Schedule of Regulatory Fees (continued)

                                                          FY 2010 Radio Station Regulatory Fees
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                          FM Classes  A,  FM Classes  B,
                    Population served                       AM Class A      AM Class B      AM Class C      AM Class D        B1 & C3     C, C0, C1 & C2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<=25,000................................................            $675            $550            $500            $575            $650            $825
25,001-75,000...........................................           1,350           1,075             750             875           1,325           1,450
75,001-150,000..........................................           2,025           1,350           1,000           1,450           1,825           2,725
150,001-500,000.........................................           3,050           2,300           1,500           1,725           2,800           3,550
500,001-1,200,000.......................................           4,400           3,500           2,500           2,875           4,450           5,225
1,200,001-3,000,000.....................................           6,750           5,400           3,750           4,600           7,250           8,350
>3,000,000..............................................           8,100           6,475           4,750           5,750           9,250          10,850
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FY 2010 Schedule of Regulatory Fees

International Bearer Circuits--Submarine Cable

 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Submarine cable systems
  (capacity as of December 31,     Fee amount            Address
             2009)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<2.5 Gbps......................         $14,625  FCC, International,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
2.5 Gbps or greater, but less            29,250  FCC, International,
 than 5 Gbps.                                     P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
5 Gbps or greater, but less              58,500  FCC, International,
 than 10 Gbps.                                    P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
10 Gbps or greater, but less            116,975  FCC, International,
 than 20 Gbps.                                    P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000

[[Page 41944]]

 
20 Gbps or greater.............         233,950  FCC, International,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX D

Sources of Payment Unit Estimates for FY 2010

    In order to calculate individual service fees for FY 2010, we 
adjusted FY 2009 payment units for each service to more accurately 
reflect expected FY 2010 payment liabilities. We obtained our 
updated estimates through a variety of means. For example, we used 
Commission licensee data bases, actual prior year payment records 
and industry and trade association projections when available. The 
databases we consulted include our Universal Licensing System 
(``ULS''), International Bureau Filing System (``IBFS''), 
Consolidated Database System (``CDBS'') and Cable Operations and 
Licensing System (``COALS''), as well as reports generated within 
the Commission such as the Wireline Competition Bureau's Trends in 
Telephone Service and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's 
Numbering Resource Utilization Forecast.
    We sought verification for these estimates from multiple sources 
and, in all cases; we compared FY 2010 estimates with actual FY 2009 
payment units to ensure that our revised estimates were reasonable. 
Where appropriate, we adjusted and/or rounded our final estimates to 
take into consideration the fact that certain variables that impact 
on the number of payment units cannot yet be estimated with 
sufficient accuracy. These include an unknown number of waivers and/
or exemptions that may occur in FY 2010 and the fact that, in many 
services, the number of actual licensees or station operators 
fluctuates from time to time due to economic, technical, or other 
reasons. When we note, for example, that our estimated FY 2010 
payment units are based on FY 2009 actual payment units, it does not 
necessarily mean that our FY 2010 projection is exactly the same 
number as FY 2009. We have either rounded the FY 2010 number or 
adjusted it slightly to account for these variables.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Fee category              Sources of payment unit estimates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Land Mobile (All), Microwave,  Based on Wireless Telecommunications
 218-219 MHz, Marine (Ship &    Bureau (``WTB'') projections of new
 Coast), Aviation (Aircraft &   applications and renewals taking into
 Ground), GMRS, Amateur         consideration existing Commission
 Vanity Call Signs, Domestic    licensee data bases. Aviation (Aircraft)
 Public Fixed.                  and Marine (Ship) estimates have been
                                adjusted to take into consideration the
                                licensing of portions of these services
                                on a voluntary basis.
CMRS Cellular/Mobile Services  Based on WTB projection reports, and FY
                                09 payment data.
CMRS Messaging Services......  Based on WTB reports, and FY 09 payment
                                data.
AM/FM Radio Stations.........  Based on CDBS data, adjusted for
                                exemptions, and actual FY 2009 payment
                                units.
UHF/VHF Television Stations..  Based on CDBS data, adjusted for
                                exemptions, and actual FY 2009 payment
                                units.
AM/FM/TV Construction Permits  Based on CDBS data, adjusted for
                                exemptions, and actual FY 2009 payment
                                units.
LPTV, Translators and          Based on CDBS data, adjusted for
 Boosters, Class A Television.  exemptions, and actual FY 2009 payment
                                units.
Broadcast Auxiliaries........  Based on actual FY 2009 payment units.
BRS (formerly MDS/MMDS) LMDS.  Based on WTB reports and actual FY 2009
                                payment units. Based on WTB reports and
                                actual FY 2009 payment units.
Cable Television Relay         Based on data from Media Bureau's COALS
 Service (``CARS'') Stations.   database and actual FY 2009 payment
                                units.
Cable Television System        Based on publicly available data sources
 Subscribers.                   for estimated subscriber counts and
                                actual FY 2009 payment units.
Interstate Telecommunication   Based on FCC Form 499-Q data for the four
 Service Providers.             quarters of calendar year 2009, the
                                Wireline Competition Bureau projected
                                the amount of calendar year 2009 revenue
                                that will be reported on 2010 FCC Form
                                499-A worksheets in April, 2010.
Earth Stations...............  Based on International Bureau (``IB'')
                                licensing data and actual FY 2009
                                payment units.
Space Stations (GSOs & NGSOs)  Based on IB data reports and actual FY
                                2009 payment units.
International Bearer Circuits  Based on IB reports and submissions by
                                licensees.
Submarine Cable Licenses.....  Based on IB license information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX E

Factors, Measurements, and Calculations That Go Into Determining 
Station Signal Contours and Associated Population Coverages

AM Stations

    For stations with nondirectional daytime antennas, the 
theoretical radiation was used at all azimuths. For stations with 
directional daytime antennas, specific information on each day 
tower, including field ratio, phasing, spacing and orientation was 
retrieved, as well as the theoretical pattern root-mean-square of 
the radiation in all directions in the horizontal plane (``RMS'') 
figure milliVolt per meter (mV/m) @ 1 km) for the antenna system. 
The standard, or modified standard if pertinent, horizontal plane 
radiation pattern was calculated using techniques and methods 
specified in 73.150 and 73.152 of the Commission's rules.\1\ 
Radiation values were calculated for each of 360 radials around the 
transmitter site. Next, estimated soil conductivity data was 
retrieved from a database representing the information in FCC Figure 
R3.\2\ Using the calculated horizontal radiation values, and the 
retrieved soil conductivity data, the distance to the principal 
community (5 mV/m) contour was predicted for each of the 360 
radials. The resulting distance to principal community contours were 
used to form a geographical polygon. Population counting was 
accomplished by determining which 2000 block centroids were 
contained in the polygon. (A block centroid is the center point of a 
small area containing population as computed by the U.S. Census 
Bureau.) The sum of the population figures for all enclosed blocks 
represents the total population for the predicted principal 
community coverage area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 47 CFR 73.150 and 73.152.
    \2\ See Map of Estimated Effective Ground Conductivity in the 
United States, 47 CFR 73.190 Figure R3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FM Stations

    The greater of the horizontal or vertical effective radiated 
power (``ERP'') (kW) and respective height above average terrain 
(``HAAT'') (m) combination was used. Where the antenna height above 
mean sea level (``HAMSL'') was available, it was used in lieu of the 
average HAAT figure to calculate specific HAAT figures for each of 
360 radials under study. Any available directional pattern 
information was applied as well, to produce a radial-specific ERP 
figure. The HAAT and ERP figures were used in

[[Page 41945]]

conjunction with the Field Strength (50-50) propagation curves 
specified in 47 CFR 73.313 of the Commission's rules to predict the 
distance to the principal community (70 dBu (decibel above 1 
microVolt per meter) or 3.17 mV/m) contour for each of the 360 
radials.\3\ The resulting distance to principal community contours 
were used to form a geographical polygon. Population counting was 
accomplished by determining which 2000 block centroids were 
contained in the polygon. The sum of the population figures for all 
enclosed blocks represents the total population for the predicted 
principal community coverage area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 47 CFR 73.313.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX F

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    1. As required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act (``RFA''),\1\ 
the Commission prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
(``IRFA'') of the possible significant economic impact on small 
entities by the policies and rules proposed in its Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking. Written public comments were sought on the FY 
2010 fees proposal, including comments on the IRFA. This present 
Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (``FRFA'') conforms to the 
RFA.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 5 U.S.C. 603. The RFA, 5 U.S.C. 601-612 has been amended by 
the Contract With America Advancement Act of 1996, Public Law 104-
121, 110 Stat. 847 (1996) (``CWAAA''). Title II of the CWAAA is the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 
(``SBREFA'').
    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 604.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Need for, and Objectives of, the Notice

    2. This rulemaking proceeding was initiated for the Commission 
to amend its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in the amount of 
$335,794,000, which is the amount that Congress has required the 
Commission to recover. The Commission seeks to collect the necessary 
amount through its revised Schedule of Regulatory Fees in the most 
efficient manner possible and without undue public burden.

II. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response 
to the IRFA

    3. No parties have raised issues in response to the IRFA.

III. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities To Which 
the Rules Will Apply

    4. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of, and 
where feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that may 
be affected by the proposed rules and policies, if adopted.\3\ The 
RFA generally defines the term ``small entity'' as having the same 
meaning as the terms ``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and 
``small governmental jurisdiction.''\4\ In addition, the term 
``small business'' has the same meaning as the term ``small business 
concern'' under the Small Business Act.\5\ A ``small business 
concern'' is one which: (1) is independently owned and operated; (2) 
is not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) satisfies any 
additional criteria established by the SBA.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3).
    \4\ 5 U.S.C. 601(6).
    \5\ 5 U.S.C. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the definition 
of ``small-business concern'' in the Small Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 
632). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 601(3), the statutory definition of a 
small business applies ``unless an agency, after consultation with 
the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration and 
after opportunity for public comment, establishes one or more 
definitions of such term which are appropriate to the activities of 
the agency and publishes such definition(s) in the Federal 
Register.''
    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 632.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    5. Small Businesses. Nationwide, there are a total of 
approximately 29.6 million small businesses, according to the 
SBA.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ See SBA, Office of Advocacy, ``Frequently Asked Questions,'' 
http://web.sba.gov/faqs (accessed Jan. 2009).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    6. Small Organizations. Nationwide, as of 2002, there are 
approximately 1.6 million small organizations.\8\ A ``small 
organization'' is generally ``any not-for-profit enterprise which is 
independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.'' 
\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ Independent Sector, The New Nonprofit Almanac & Desk 
Reference (2002).
    \9\ 5 U.S.C. 601(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    7. Small Governmental Jurisdictions. The term ``small 
governmental jurisdiction'' is defined generally as ``governments of 
cities, towns, townships, villages, school districts, or special 
districts, with a population of less than fifty thousand.'' \10\ 
Census Bureau data for 2002 indicate that there were 87,525 local 
governmental jurisdictions in the United States.\11\ We estimate 
that, of this total, 84,377 entities were ``small governmental 
jurisdictions.'' \12\ Thus, we estimate that most governmental 
jurisdictions are small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ 5 U.S.C. 601(5).
    \11\ U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United 
States: 2006, Section 8, p. 272, Table 415.
    \12\ We assume that the villages, school districts, and special 
districts are small, and total 48,558. See U.S. Census Bureau, 
Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, section 8, p. 273, 
Table 417. For 2002, Census Bureau data indicate that the total 
number of county, municipal, and township governments nationwide was 
38,967, of which 35,819 were small. Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    8. We have included small incumbent local exchange carriers in 
this present RFA analysis. As noted above, a ``small business'' 
under the RFA is one that, inter alia, meets the pertinent small 
business size standard (e.g., a telephone communications business 
having 1,500 or fewer employees), and ``is not dominant in its field 
of operation.'' \13\ The SBA's Office of Advocacy contends that, for 
RFA purposes, small incumbent local exchange carriers are not 
dominant in their field of operation because any such dominance is 
not ``national'' in scope.\14\ We have therefore included small 
incumbent local exchange carriers in this RFA analysis, although we 
emphasize that this RFA action has no effect on Commission analyses 
and determinations in other, non-RFA contexts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ 15 U.S. C. 632.
    \14\ Letter from Jere W. Glover, Chief Counsel for Advocacy, 
SBA, to William E. Kennard, Chairman, FCC (May 27, 1999). The Small 
Business Act contains a definition of ``small-business concern,'' 
which the RFA incorporates into its own definition of ``small 
business.'' See 15 U.S.C. 632(a) (``Small Business Act''); 5 U.S.C. 
601(3) (``RFA''). SBA regulations interpret ``small business 
concern'' to include the concept of dominance on a national basis. 
See 13 CFR 121.102(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    9. Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (``ILECs''). Neither the 
Commission nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard 
specifically for incumbent local exchange services. The appropriate 
size standard under SBA rules is for the category Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers. Under that size standard, such a 
business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees.\15\ According 
to Commission data,\16\ 1,311 carriers have reported that they are 
engaged in the provision of incumbent local exchange services. Of 
these 1,311 carriers, an estimated 1,024 have 1,500 or fewer 
employees and 287 have more than 1,500 employees. Consequently, the 
Commission estimates that most providers of incumbent local exchange 
service are small businesses that may be affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ 13 CFR 121.201, North American Industry Classification 
System (NAICS) code 517110.
    \16\ FCC, Wireline Competition Bureau, Industry Analysis and 
Technology Division, ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3, 
Page 5-5 (Aug. 2008) (``Trends in Telephone Service''). This source 
uses data that are current as of November 1, 2006.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    10. Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (``CLECs''), Competitive 
Access Providers (``CAPs''), ``Shared-Tenant Service Providers,'' 
and ``Other Local Service Providers.'' Neither the Commission nor 
the SBA has developed a small business size standard specifically 
for these service providers. The appropriate size standard under SBA 
rules is for the category Wired Telecommunications Carriers. Under 
that size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500 or 
fewer employees.\17\ According to Commission data,\18\ 1005 carriers 
have reported that they are engaged in the provision of either 
competitive access provider services or competitive local exchange 
carrier services. Of these 1005 carriers, an estimated 918 have 
1,500 or fewer employees and 87 have more than 1,500 employees. In 
addition, 16 carriers have reported that they are ``Shared-Tenant 
Service Providers,'' and all 16 are estimated to have 1,500 or fewer 
employees. In addition, 89 carriers have reported that they are 
``Other Local Service Providers.'' Of the 89, all have 1,500 or 
fewer employees. Consequently, the Commission estimates that most 
providers of competitive local exchange service, competitive access 
providers, ``Shared-Tenant Service Providers,'' and ``Other Local 
Service Providers'' are small entities that may be affected by our 
action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \18\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    11. Local Resellers. The SBA has developed a small business size 
standard for the category of Telecommunications Resellers. Under 
that size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500 or 
fewer employees.\19\ According to Commission data,\20\ 151 carriers 
have reported that they are engaged in the provision of local resale 
services. Of these, an estimated 149 have 1,500 or fewer employees 
and two have more than 1,500 employees. Consequently, the Commission 
estimates that the majority of

[[Page 41946]]

local resellers are small entities that may be affected by our 
action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310.
    \20\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    12. Toll Resellers. The SBA has developed a small business size 
standard for the category of Telecommunications Resellers. Under 
that size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500 or 
fewer employees.\21\ According to Commission data,\22\ 815 carriers 
have reported that they are engaged in the provision of toll resale 
services. Of these, an estimated 787 have 1,500 or fewer employees 
and 28 have more than 1,500 employees. Consequently, the Commission 
estimates that the majority of toll resellers are small entities 
that may be affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310.
    \22\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    13. Payphone Service Providers (``PSPs''). Neither the 
Commission nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard 
specifically for payphone services providers. The appropriate size 
standard under SBA rules is for the category Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers. Under that size standard, such a 
business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees.\23\ According 
to Commission data,\24\ 526 carriers have reported that they are 
engaged in the provision of payphone services. Of these, an 
estimated 524 have 1,500 or fewer employees and two have more than 
1,500 employees. Consequently, the Commission estimates that the 
majority of payphone service providers are small entities that may 
be affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ 3 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \24\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    14. Interexchange Carriers (``IXCs''). Neither the Commission 
nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard 
specifically for providers of interexchange services. The 
appropriate size standard under SBA rules is for the category Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers. Under that size standard, such a 
business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees.\25\ According 
to Commission data,\26\ 300 carriers have reported that they are 
engaged in the provision of interexchange service. Of these, an 
estimated 268 have 1,500 or fewer employees and 32 have more than 
1,500 employees. Consequently, the Commission estimates that the 
majority of IXCs are small entities that may be affected by our 
action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \26\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    15. Operator Service Providers (``OSPs''). Neither the 
Commission nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard 
specifically for operator service providers. The appropriate size 
standard under SBA rules is for the category Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers. Under that size standard, such a 
business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees.\27\ According 
to Commission data,\28\ 28 carriers have reported that they are 
engaged in the provision of operator services. Of these, an 
estimated 27 have 1,500 or fewer employees and one has more than 
1,500 employees. Consequently, the Commission estimates that the 
majority of OSPs are small entities that may be affected by our 
action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \28\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    16. Prepaid Calling Card Providers. Neither the Commission nor 
the SBA has developed a small business size standard specifically 
for prepaid calling card providers. The appropriate size standard 
under SBA rules is for the category Telecommunications Resellers. 
Under that size standard, such a business is small if it has 1,500 
or fewer employees.\29\ According to Commission data,\30\ 88 
carriers have reported that they are engaged in the provision of 
prepaid calling cards. Of these, an estimated 85 have 1,500 or fewer 
employees and three have more than 1,500 employees. Consequently, 
the Commission estimates that the majority of prepaid calling card 
providers are small entities that may be affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310.
    \30\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    17. 800 and 800-Like Service Subscribers.\31\ Neither the 
Commission nor the SBA has developed a small business size standard 
specifically for 800 and 800-like service (``toll free'') 
subscribers. The appropriate size standard under SBA rules is for 
the category Telecommunications Resellers. Under that size standard, 
such a business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees.\32\ The 
most reliable source of information regarding the number of these 
service subscribers appears to be data the Commission receives from 
Database Service Management on the 800, 866, 877, and 888 numbers in 
use.\33\ According to our data, at the end of December 2007, the 
number of 800 numbers assigned was 7,860,000; the number of 888 
numbers assigned was 5,210,184; the number of 877 numbers assigned 
was 4,388,682; and the number of 866 numbers assigned was 7,029,116. 
We do not have data specifying the number of these subscribers that 
are independently owned and operated or have 1,500 or fewer 
employees, and thus are unable at this time to estimate with greater 
precision the number of toll free subscribers that would qualify as 
small businesses under the SBA size standard. Consequently, we 
estimate that there are 7,860,000 or fewer small entity 800 
subscribers; 5,210,184 or fewer small entity 888 subscribers; 
4,388,682 or fewer small entity 877 subscribers, and 7,029,116 or 
fewer entity 866 subscribers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \31\ We include all toll-free number subscribers in this 
category.
    \32\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310.
    \33\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Tables 18.4, 18.5, 18.6, 
and 18.7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    18. Satellite Telecommunications and All Other 
Telecommunications. These two economic census categories address the 
satellite industry. The first category has a small business size 
standard of $15 million or less in average annual receipts, under 
SBA rules.\34\ The second has a size standard of $25 million or less 
in annual receipts.\35\ The most current Census Bureau data in this 
context, however, are from the (last) economic census of 2002, and 
we will use those figures to gauge the prevalence of small 
businesses in these categories.\36\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517410.
    \35\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517919.
    \36\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 517410 and 517910 (2002).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    19. The category of Satellite Telecommunications ``comprises 
establishments primarily engaged in providing telecommunications 
services to other establishments in the telecommunications and 
broadcasting industries by forwarding and receiving communications 
signals via a system of satellites or reselling satellite 
telecommunications.'' \37\ For this category, Census Bureau data for 
2002 show that there were a total of 371 firms that operated for the 
entire year.\38\ Of this total, 307 firms had annual receipts of 
under $10 million, and 26 firms had receipts of $10 million to 
$24,999,999.\39\ Consequently, we estimate that the majority of 
Satellite Telecommunications firms are small entities that might be 
affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \37\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517410 
Satellite Telecommunications''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517410.HTM.
    \38\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization),'' Table 4, NAICS code 517410 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \39\ Id. An additional 38 firms had annual receipts of $25 
million or more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    20. The second category of All Other Telecommunications 
comprises, inter alia, ``establishments primarily engaged in 
providing specialized telecommunications services, such as satellite 
tracking, communications telemetry, and radar station operation. 
This industry also includes establishments primarily engaged in 
providing satellite terminal stations and associated facilities 
connected with one or more terrestrial systems and capable of 
transmitting telecommunications to, and receiving telecommunications 
from, satellite systems.'' \40\ For this category, Census Bureau 
data for 2002 show that there were a total of 332 firms that 
operated for the entire year.\41\ Of this total, 303 firms had 
annual receipts of under $10 million and 15 firms had annual 
receipts of $10 million to $24,999,999.\42\ Consequently, we 
estimate that the majority of All Other Telecommunications firms are 
small entities that might be affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517919 All 
Other Telecommunications''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517919.HTM#N517919.
    \41\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization),'' Table 4, NAICS code 517910 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \42\ Id. An additional 14 firms had annual receipts of $25 
million or more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    21. Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite). 
Since 2007, the Census Bureau has placed wireless firms within this 
new, broad, economic census category.\43\ Prior to that time, such 
firms were within the now-superseded categories of ``Paging'' and 
``Cellular and Other Wireless

[[Page 41947]]

Telecommunications.'' \44\ Under the present and prior categories, 
the SBA has deemed a wireless business to be small if it has 1,500 
or fewer employees.\45\ Because Census Bureau data are not yet 
available for the new category, we will estimate small business 
prevalence using the prior categories and associated data. For the 
category of Paging, data for 2002 show that there were 807 firms 
that operated for the entire year.\46\ Of this total, 804 firms had 
employment of 999 or fewer employees, and three firms had employment 
of 1,000 employees or more.\47\ For the category of Cellular and 
Other Wireless Telecommunications, data for 2002 show that there 
were 1,397 firms that operated for the entire year.\48\ Of this 
total, 1,378 firms had employment of 999 or fewer employees, and 19 
firms had employment of 1,000 employees or more.\49\ Thus, we 
estimate that the majority of wireless firms are small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \43\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517210 
Wireless Telecommunications Categories (Except Satellite)''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517210.HTM#N517210.
    \44\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, ``517211 
Paging''; http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM.; U.S. 
Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, ``517212 Cellular and Other 
Wireless Telecommunications''; http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM.
    \45\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210 (2007 NAICS). The now-
superseded, pre-2007 CFR citations were 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 
517211 and 517212 (referring to the 2002 NAICS).
    \46\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization,'' Table 5, NAICS code 517211 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \47\ Id. The census data do not provide a more precise estimate 
of the number of firms that have employment of 1,500 or fewer 
employees; the largest category provided is for firms with ``1000 
employees or more.''
    \48\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization,'' Table 5, NAICS code 517212 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \49\ Id. The census data do not provide a more precise estimate 
of the number of firms that have employment of 1,500 or fewer 
employees; the largest category provided is for firms with ``1000 
employees or more.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    22. Auctions. Initially, we note that, as a general matter, the 
number of winning bidders that qualify as small businesses at the 
close of an auction does not necessarily represent the number of 
small businesses currently in service. Also, the Commission does not 
generally track subsequent business size unless, in the context of 
assignments or transfers, unjust enrichment issues are implicated.
    23. Common Carrier Paging. As noted, the SBA has developed a 
small business size standard for Wireless Telecommunications 
Carriers (except Satellite) firms within the broad economic census 
categories of ``Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications.'' 
\50\ Since 2007, the Census Bureau has placed wireless firms within 
this new, broad, economic census category.\51\ Prior to that time, 
such firms were within the now-superseded categories of ``Paging'' 
and ``Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications.'' \52\ Under 
the present and prior categories, the SBA has deemed a wireless 
business to be small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees.\53\ Because 
Census Bureau data are not yet available for the new category, we 
will estimate small business prevalence using the prior categories 
and associated data. For the category of Paging, data for 2002 show 
that there were 807 firms that operated for the entire year.\54\ Of 
this total, 804 firms had employment of 999 or fewer employees, and 
three firms had employment of 1,000 employees or more.\55\ For the 
category of Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications, data for 
2002 show that there were 1,397 firms that operated for the entire 
year.\56\ Of this total, 1,378 firms had employment of 999 or fewer 
employees, and 19 firms had employment of 1,000 employees or 
more.\57\ Thus, we estimate that the majority of wireless firms are 
small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212.
    \51\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517210 
Wireless Telecommunications Categories (Except Satellite)''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517210.HTM#N517210.
    \52\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, ``517211 
Paging''; http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM.; U.S. 
Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, ``517212 Cellular and Other 
Wireless Telecommunications''; http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM.
    \53\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210 (2007 NAICS). The now-
superseded, pre-2007 CFR citations were 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 
517211 and 517212 (referring to the 2002 NAICS).
    \54\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization,'' Table 5, NAICS code 517211 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \55\ Id. The census data do not provide a more precise estimate 
of the number of firms that have employment of 1,500 or fewer 
employees; the largest category provided is for firms with ``1000 
employees or more.''
    \56\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization,'' Table 5, NAICS code 517212 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \57\ Id. The census data do not provide a more precise estimate 
of the number of firms that have employment of 1,500 or fewer 
employees; the largest category provided is for firms with ``1000 
employees or more.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    24. In addition, in the Paging Second Report and Order, the 
Commission adopted a size standard for ``small businesses'' for 
purposes of determining their eligibility for special provisions 
such as bidding credits and installment payments.\58\ A small 
business is an entity that, together with its affiliates and 
controlling principals, has average gross revenues not exceeding $15 
million for the preceding three years.\59\ The SBA has approved this 
definition.\60\ An initial auction of Metropolitan Economic Area 
(``MEA'') licenses was conducted in the year 2000. Of the 2,499 
licenses auctioned, 985 were sold.\61\ Fifty-seven companies 
claiming small business status won 440 licenses.\62\ A subsequent 
auction of MEA and Economic Area (``EA'') licenses was held in the 
year 2001. Of the 15,514 licenses auctioned, 5,323 were sold.\63\ 
One hundred thirty-two companies claiming small business status 
purchased 3,724 licenses. A third auction, consisting of 8,874 
licenses in each of 175 EAs and 1,328 licenses in all but three of 
the 51 MEAs, was held in 2003. Seventy-seven bidders claiming small 
or very small business status won 2,093 licenses.\64\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \58\ Revision of Part 22 and Part 90 of the Commission's Rules 
to Facilitate Future Development of Paging Systems, Second Report 
and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 2732, 2811-2812, paras. 178-181 (``Paging 
Second Report and Order''); see also Revision of Part 22 and Part 90 
of the Commission's Rules to Facilitate Future Development of Paging 
Systems, Memorandum Opinion and Order on Reconsideration, 14 FCC Rcd 
10030, 10085-10088, paras. 98-107 (1999).
    \59\ Paging Second Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 2811, para. 
179.
    \60\ See Letter from Aida Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, to Amy 
Zoslov, Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 
Telecommunications Bureau (``WTB''), FCC (Dec. 2, 1998) (``Alvarez 
Letter 1998'').
    \61\ See ``929 and 931 MHz Paging Auction Closes,'' Public 
Notice, 15 FCC Rcd 4858 (WTB 2000).
    \62\ See id.
    \63\ See ``Lower and Upper Paging Band Auction Closes,'' Public 
Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 21821 (WTB 2002).
    \64\ See ``Lower and Upper Paging Bands Auction Closes,'' Public 
Notice, 18 FCC Rcd 11154 (WTB 2003). The current number of small or 
very small business entities that hold wireless licenses may differ 
significantly from the number of such entities that won in spectrum 
auctions due to assignments and transfers of licenses in the 
secondary market over time. In addition, some of the same small 
business entities may have won licenses in more than one auction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    25. Currently, there are approximately 74,000 Common Carrier 
Paging licenses. According to the most recent Trends in Telephone 
Service, 281 carriers reported that they were engaged in the 
provision of ``paging and messaging'' services.\65\ Of these, an 
estimated 279 have 1,500 or fewer employees and two have more than 
1,500 employees.\66\ We estimate that the majority of common carrier 
paging providers would qualify as small entities under the SBA 
definition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
    \66\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    26. 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Services. This service can 
be used for fixed, mobile, radiolocation, and digital audio 
broadcasting satellite uses. The Commission defined ``small 
business'' for the wireless communications services (``WCS'') 
auction as an entity with average gross revenues of $40 million for 
each of the three preceding years, and a ``very small business'' as 
an entity with average gross revenues of $15 million for each of the 
three preceding years.\67\ The SBA has approved these 
definitions.\68\ The Commission auctioned geographic area licenses 
in the WCS service. In the auction, which was conducted in 1997, 
there were seven bidders that won 31 licenses that qualified as very 
small business entities, and one bidder that won one license that 
qualified as a small business entity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ Amendment of the Commission's Rules to Establish Part 27, 
the Wireless Communications Service (WCS), Report and Order, 12 FCC 
Rcd 10785, 10879, para. 194 (1997).
    \68\ See Alvarez Letter 1998.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    27. 1670-1675 MHz Services. An auction for one license in the 
1670-1675 MHz band was conducted in 2003. One license was awarded. 
The winning bidder was not a small entity.
    28. Wireless Telephony. Wireless telephony includes cellular, 
personal communications services, and specialized mobile radio 
telephony carriers. As noted,

[[Page 41948]]

the SBA has developed a small business size standard for Wireless 
Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite).\69\ Under the SBA 
small business size standard, a business is small if it has 1,500 or 
fewer employees.\70\ According to Trends in Telephone Service data, 
434 carriers reported that they were engaged in wireless 
telephony.\71\ Of these, an estimated 222 have 1,500 or fewer 
employees and 212 have more than 1,500 employees.\72\ We have 
estimated that 222 of these are small under the SBA small business 
size standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \69\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
    \70\ Id.
    \71\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
    \72\ ``Trends in Telephone Service'' at Table 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    29. Broadband Personal Communications Service. The broadband 
personal communications services (``PCS'') spectrum is divided into 
six frequency blocks designated A through F, and the Commission has 
held auctions for each block. The Commission has created a small 
business size standard for Blocks C and F as an entity that has 
average gross revenues of less than $40 million in the three 
previous calendar years.\73\ For Block F, an additional small 
business size standard for ``very small business'' was added and is 
defined as an entity that, together with its affiliates, has average 
gross revenues of not more than $15 million for the preceding three 
calendar years.\74\ These small business size standards, in the 
context of broadband PCS auctions, have been approved by the 
SBA.\75\ No small businesses within the SBA-approved small business 
size standards bid successfully for licenses in Blocks A and B. 
There were 90 winning bidders that qualified as small entities in 
the Block C auctions. A total of 93 ``small'' and ``very small'' 
business bidders won approximately 40 percent of the 1,479 licenses 
for Blocks D, E, and F.\76\ In 1999, the Commission reauctioned 155 
C, D, E, and F Block licenses; there were 113 small business winning 
bidders.\77\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \73\ See Amendment of Parts 20 and 24 of the Commission's 
Rules--Broadband PCS Competitive Bidding and the Commercial Mobile 
Radio Service Spectrum Cap, Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 7824, 7850-
7852, paras. 57-60 (1996) (``PCS Report and Order''); see also 47 
CFR 24.720(b).
    \74\ See PCS Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd at 7852, para. 60.
    \75\ See Alvarez Letter 1998.
    \76\ FCC News, ``Broadband PCS, D, E and F Block Auction 
Closes,'' No. 71744 (rel. Jan. 14, 1997).
    \77\ See ``C, D, E, and F Block Broadband PCS Auction Closes,'' 
Public Notice, 14 FCC Rcd 6688 (WTB 1999).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    30. In 2001, the Commission completed the auction of 422 C and F 
Broadband PCS licenses in Auction 35. Of the 35 winning bidders in 
this auction, 29 qualified as ``small'' or ``very small'' 
businesses.\78\ Subsequent events, concerning Auction 35, including 
judicial and agency determinations, resulted in a total of 163 C and 
F Block licenses being available for grant. In 2005, the Commission 
completed an auction of 188 C block licenses and 21 F block licenses 
in Auction 58. There were 24 winning bidders for 217 licenses.\79\ 
Of the 24 winning bidders, 16 claimed small business status and won 
156 licenses. In 2007, the Commission completed an auction of 33 
licenses in the A, C, and F Blocks in Auction 71.\80\ Of the 14 
winning bidders, six were designated entities.\81\ In 2008, the 
Commission completed an auction of 20 Broadband PCS licenses in the 
C, D, E and F block licenses in Auction 78.\82\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \78\ See ``C and F Block Broadband PCS Auction Closes; Winning 
Bidders Announced,'' Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 2339 (2001).
    \79\ See ``Broadband PCS Spectrum Auction Closes; Winning 
Bidders Announced for Auction No. 58,'' Public Notice, 20 FCC Rcd 
3703 (2005).
    \80\ See ``Auction of Broadband PCS Spectrum Licenses Closes; 
Winning Bidders Announced for Auction No. 71,'' Public Notice, 22 
FCC Rcd 9247 (2007).
    \81\ Id.
    \82\ See Auction of AWS-1 and Broadband PCS Licenses Rescheduled 
For August 13, 2008, Notice of Filing Requirements, Minimum Opening 
Bids, Upfront Payments and Other Procedures For Auction 78, Public 
Notice, 23 FCC Rcd 7496 (2008) (``AWS-1 and Broadband PCS Procedures 
Public Notice'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    31. Advanced Wireless Services. In 2006, the Commission 
conducted its first auction of Advanced Wireless Services licenses 
in the 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz bands (``AWS-1''), designated 
as Auction 66.\83\ The Commission defined ``small business'' as an 
entity with attributed average annual gross revenues that exceeded 
$15 million and did not exceed $40 million for the preceding three 
years.\84\ A small business received a 15 percent discount on its 
winning bid.\85\ A ``very small business'' is defined as an entity 
with attributed average annual gross revenues that did not exceed 
$15 million for the preceding three years.\86\ A very small business 
received a 25 percent discount on its winning bid.\87\ In Auction 
66, thirty-one winning bidders identified themselves as very small 
businesses and won 142 licenses.\88\ Twenty-six of the winning 
bidders identified themselves as small businesses and won 73 
licenses.\89\ In 2008, the Commission conducted an auction of AWS-1 
licenses, designated as Auction 78, which offered 35 licenses for 
which there were no winning bids in Auction 66.\90\ Four winning 
bidders that identified themselves as very small businesses won 17 
AWS-1 licenses.\91\ Three of the winning bidders that identified 
themselves as a small business won five AWS-1 licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \83\ See Auction of Advanced Wireless Services Licenses 
Scheduled for June 29, 2006; Notice and Filing Requirements, Minimum 
Opening Bids, Upfront Payments and Other Procedures for Auction No. 
66, AU Docket No. 06-30, Public Notice, 21 FCC Rcd 4562 (2006) 
(``Auction 66 Procedures Public Notice'');
    \84\ 47 CFR 27.1102(a)(1).
    \85\ See 47 CFR 1.2110(f)(2).
    \86\ 47 CFR 27.1102(a)(2)
    \87\ See 47 CFR 1.2110(f)(2).
    \88\ See Auction of Advanced Wireless Services Licenses Closes; 
Winning Bidders Announced for Auction No. 66, Public Notice, 21 FCC 
Rcd 10,521 (2006) (``Auction 66 Closing Public Notice'')
    \89\ See id.
    \90\ See AWS-1 and Broadband PCS Procedures Public Notice, 23 
FCC Rcd 7496. Auction 78 also included an auction of Broadband PCS 
licenses.
    \91\ See ``Auction of AWS-1 and Broadband PCS Licenses Closes, 
Winning Bidders Announced for Auction 78, Down Payments Due 
September 9, 2008, FCC Forms 601 and 602 Due September 9, 2008, 
Final Payments Due September 23, 2008, Ten-Day Petition to Deny 
Period'', Public Notice, 23 FCC Rcd 12749-65 (2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    32. Narrowband Personal Communications Services. In 1994, the 
Commission conducted an auction for Narrowband PCS licenses. A 
second auction was also conducted later in 1994. For purposes of the 
first two Narrowband PCS auctions, ``small businesses'' were 
entities with average gross revenues for the prior three calendar 
years of $40 million or less.\92\ Through these auctions, the 
Commission awarded a total of 41 licenses, 11 of which were obtained 
by four small businesses.\93\ To ensure meaningful participation by 
small business entities in future auctions, the Commission adopted a 
two-tiered small business size standard in the Narrowband PCS Second 
Report and Order.\94\ A ``small business'' is an entity that, 
together with affiliates and controlling interests, has average 
gross revenues for the three preceding years of not more than $40 
million.\95\ A ``very small business'' is an entity that, together 
with affiliates and controlling interests, has average gross 
revenues for the three preceding years of not more than $15 
million.\96\ The SBA has approved these small business size 
standards.\97\ A third auction was conducted in 2001. Here, five 
bidders won 317 (Metropolitan Trading Areas and nationwide) 
licenses.\98\ Three of these claimed status as a small or very small 
entity and won 311 licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \92\ Implementation of Section 309(j) of the Communications 
Act--Competitive Bidding Narrowband PCS, Third Memorandum Opinion 
and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 10 FCC Rcd 175, 
196, para. 46 (1994).
    \93\ See ``Announcing the High Bidders in the Auction of ten 
Nationwide Narrowband PCS Licenses, Winning Bids Total 
$617,006,674,'' Public Notice, PNWL 94-004 (released Aug. 2, 1994); 
``Announcing the High Bidders in the Auction of 30 Regional 
Narrowband PCS Licenses; Winning Bids Total $490,901,787,'' Public 
Notice, PNWL 94-27 (released Nov. 9, 1994).
    \94\ Amendment of the Commission's Rules to Establish New 
Personal Communications Services, Narrowband PCS, Second Report and 
Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 15 FCC Rcd 
10456, 10476, para. 40 (2000) (``Narrowband PCS Second Report and 
Order'').
    \95\ Narrowband PCS Second Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd at 
10476, para. 40.
    \96\ Id.
    \97\ See Alvarez Letter 1998.
    \98\ See ``Narrowband PCS Auction Closes,'' Public Notice, 16 
FCC Rcd 18663 (WTB 2001).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    33. 700 MHz Band Licenses. The Commission previously adopted 
criteria for defining three groups of small businesses for purposes 
of determining their eligibility for special provisions such as 
bidding credits.\99\ The Commission defined a ``small business'' as 
an entity that, together with its affiliates and controlling 
principals, has average gross revenues not exceeding $40 million for 
the preceding three years.\100\ A ``very small business'' is defined 
as an entity that, together with its affiliates and controlling

[[Page 41949]]

principals, has average gross revenues that are not more than $15 
million for the preceding three years.\101\ Additionally, the lower 
700 MHz Service had a third category of small business status for 
Metropolitan/Rural Service Area (``MSA/RSA'') licenses. The third 
category is ``entrepreneur,'' which is defined as an entity that, 
together with its affiliates and controlling principals, has average 
gross revenues that are not more than $3 million for the preceding 
three years.\102\ The SBA approved these small size standards.\103\ 
The Commission conducted an auction in 2002 of 740 licenses (one 
license in each of the 734 MSAs/RSAs and one license in each of the 
six Economic Area Groupings (EAGs)). Of the 740 licenses available 
for auction, 484 licenses were sold to 102 winning bidders. Seventy-
two of the winning bidders claimed small business, very small 
business or entrepreneur status and won a total of 329 
licenses.\104\ The Commission conducted a second auction in 2003 
that included 256 licenses: 5 EAG licenses and 476 Cellular Market 
Area licenses.\105\ Seventeen winning bidders claimed small or very 
small business status and won 60 licenses, and nine winning bidders 
claimed entrepreneur status and won 154 licenses.\106\ In 2005, the 
Commission completed an auction of 5 licenses in the lower 700 MHz 
band (Auction 60). There were three winning bidders for five 
licenses. All three winning bidders claimed small business status.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \99\ See Reallocation and Service Rules for the 698-746 MHz 
Spectrum Band (Television Channels 52-59), Report and Order, 17 FCC 
Rcd 1022 (2002) (``Channels 52-59 Report and Order'').
    \100\ See Channels 52-59 Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd at 1087-
88, para. 172.
    \101\ See id.
    \102\ See id, 17 FCC Rcd at 1088, para. 173.
    \103\ See Letter from Aida Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, to 
Thomas Sugrue, Chief, WTB, FCC (Aug. 10, 1999) (``Alvarez Letter 
1999'').
    \104\ See ``Lower 700 MHz Band Auction Closes,'' Public Notice, 
17 FCC Rcd 17272 (WTB 2002).
    \105\ See ``Lower 700 MHz Band Auction Closes,'' Public Notice, 
18 FCC Rcd 11873 (WTB 2003).
    \106\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    34. In 2007, the Commission adopted the 700 MHz Second Report 
and Order.\107\ The Order revised the band plan for the commercial 
(including Guard Band) and public safety spectrum, adopted services 
rules, including stringent build-out requirements, an open platform 
requirement on the C Block, and a requirement on the D Block 
licensee to construct and operate a nationwide, interoperable 
wireless broadband network for public safety users. In 2008, the 
Commission conducted Auction 73 which offered all available, 
commercial 700 MHz Band licenses (1,099 licenses) for bidding using 
the Commission's standard simultaneous multiple-round (``SMR'') 
auction format for the A, B, D, and E block licenses and an SMR 
auction design with hierarchical package bidding (``HPB'') for the C 
Block licenses. A bidder with attributed average annual gross 
revenues that did not exceed $15 million for the preceding three 
years (very small business) qualified for a 25 percent discount on 
its winning bids. A bidder with attributed average annual gross 
revenues that exceeded $15 million, but did not exceed $40 million 
for the preceding three years, qualified for a 15 percent discount 
on its winning bids. At the conclusion of Auction 73, there were 36 
winning bidders (who won 330 of the 1,090 licenses won) that 
identified themselves as very small businesses.\108\ There were 20 
winning bidders that identified themselves as a small business that 
won 49 of the 1,090 licenses won.\109\ The provisionally winning 
bids for the A, B, C, and E Block licenses exceeded the aggregate 
reserve prices for those blocks. However, the provisionally winning 
bid for the D Block license did not meet the applicable reserve 
price and thus did not become a winning bid.\110\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \107\ Service Rules for the 698-746, 747-762 and 777-792 MHz 
Band, WT Docket No. 06-150, Revision of the Commission's Rules to 
Ensure Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems, CC 
Docket No. 94-102, Section 68.4(a) of the Commission's Rules 
Governing Hearing Aid-Compatible Telephone, WT Docket No. 01-309, 
Biennial Regulatory Review--Amendment of Parts 1, 22, 24, 27, and 90 
to Streamline and Harmonize Various Rules Affecting Wireless Radio 
Services, WT Docket No. 03-264, Former Nextel Communications, Inc. 
Upper700 MHz Guard Band Licenses and Revisions to Part 27 of the 
Commission's Rules, WT Docket No. 06-169, Implementing a Nationwide, 
Broadband Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 MHz Band, 
PS Docket No. 06-229, Development of Operational, Technical and 
Spectrum Requirements for Meeting Federal, State, and Local Public 
Safety Communications Requirements Through the Year 2010, WT Docket 
No. 96-86, Second Report and Order, FCC 07-132 (2007) (``700 MHz 
Second Report and Order''), 22 FCC Rcd 15289 (2007).
    \108\ See Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses Closes, Winning 
Bidders Announced for Auction 73, Down Payments Due April 3, 2008, 
FCC Forms 601 and 602 April 3, 2008, Final Payment Due April 17, 
2008, Ten-Day Petition to Deny Period, Public Notice, 23 FCC Rcd 
4572 (2008).
    \109\ Id. 23 FCC Rcd at 4572-73.
    \110\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    35. 700 MHz Guard Band Licenses. In the 700 MHz Guard Band 
Order, the Commission adopted size standards for ``small 
businesses'' and ``very small businesses'' for purposes of 
determining their eligibility for special provisions such as bidding 
credits and installment payments.\111\ A small business in this 
service is an entity that, together with its affiliates and 
controlling principals, has average gross revenues not exceeding $40 
million for the preceding three years.\112\ Additionally, a very 
small business is an entity that, together with its affiliates and 
controlling principals, has average gross revenues that are not more 
than $15 million for the preceding three years.\113\ SBA approval of 
these definitions is not required.\114\ In 2000, the Commission 
conducted an auction of 52 Major Economic Area (``MEA'') 
licenses.\115\ Of the 104 licenses auctioned, 96 licenses were sold 
to nine bidders. Five of these bidders were small businesses that 
won a total of 26 licenses. A second auction of eight 700 MHz Guard 
Band licenses commenced and closed in 2001. Of the three winning 
bidders, one was a small business that won two of the eight 
licenses.\116\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \111\ See Service Rules for the 746-764 MHz Bands, and Revisions 
to Part 27 of the Commission's Rules, Second Report and Order, 15 
FCC Rcd 5299 (2000) (``746-764 MHz Band Second Report and Order'').
    \112\ See 746-764 MHz Band Second Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 
at 5343, para. 108.
    \113\ See id.
    \114\ See id., 15 FCC Rcd 5299, 5343, para. 108 n.246 (for the 
746-764 MHz and 776-794 MHz bands, the Commission is exempt from 15 
U.S.C. 632, which requires Federal agencies to obtain SBA approval 
before adopting small business size standards).
    \115\ See ``700 MHz Guard Bands Auction Closes: Winning Bidders 
Announced,'' Public Notice, 15 FCC Rcd 18026 (2000).
    \116\ See ``700 MHz Guard Bands Auction Closes: Winning Bidders 
Announced,'' Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 4590 (WTB 2001).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    36. Specialized Mobile Radio. The Commission awards small 
business bidding credits in auctions for Specialized Mobile Radio 
(SMR) geographic area licenses in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands to 
entities that had revenues of no more than $15 million in each of 
the three previous calendar years.\117\ The Commission awards very 
small business bidding credits to entities that had revenues of no 
more than $3 million in each of the three previous calendar 
years.\118\ The SBA has approved these small business size standards 
for the 800 MHz and 900 MHz SMR Service.\119\ The Commission has 
held auctions for geographic area licenses in the 800 MHz and 900 
MHz bands. The 900 MHz SMR auction was completed in 1996. Sixty 
bidders claiming that they qualified as small businesses under the 
$15 million size standard won 263 geographic area licenses in the 
900 MHz SMR band. The 800 MHz SMR auction for the upper 200 channels 
was conducted in 1997. Ten bidders claiming that they qualified as 
small businesses under the $15 million size standard won 38 
geographic area licenses for the upper 200 channels in the 800 MHz 
SMR band.\120\ A second auction for the 800 MHz band was conducted 
in 2002 and included 23 BEA licenses. One bidder claiming small 
business status won five licenses.\121\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \117\ 47 CFR 90.814(b)(1).
    \118\ 47 CFR 90.814(b)(1).
    \119\ See Alvarez Letter 1999.
    \120\ See ``Correction to Public Notice DA 96-586 `FCC Announces 
Winning Bidders in the Auction of 1020 Licenses to Provide 900 MHz 
SMR in Major Trading Areas,' '' Public Notice, 18 FCC Rcd 18367 (WTB 
1996).
    \121\ See ``Multi-Radio Service Auction Closes,'' Public Notice, 
17 FCC Rcd 1446 (WTB 2002).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    37. The auction of the 1,053 800 MHz SMR geographic area 
licenses for the General Category channels was conducted in 2000. 
Eleven bidders won 108 geographic area licenses for the General 
Category channels in the 800 MHz SMR band qualified as small 
businesses under the $15 million size standard.\122\ In an auction 
completed in 2000, a total of 2,800 Economic Area licenses in the 
lower 80 channels of the 800 MHz SMR service were awarded.\123\ Of 
the 22 winning bidders, 19 claimed small business status and won 129 
licenses. Thus, combining all three auctions, 40 winning bidders for 
geographic

[[Page 41950]]

licenses in the 800 MHz SMR band claimed status as small business.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \122\ See ``800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) Service 
General Category (851-854 MHz) and Upper Band (861-865 MHz) Auction 
Closes; Winning Bidders Announced,'' Public Notice, 15 FCC Rcd 17162 
(2000).
    \123\ See, ``800 MHz SMR Service Lower 80 Channels Auction 
Closes; Winning Bidders Announced,'' Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 1736 
(2000).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    38. In addition, there are numerous incumbent site-by-site SMR 
licensees and licensees with extended implementation authorizations 
in the 800 and 900 MHz bands. We do not know how many firms provide 
800 MHz or 900 MHz geographic area SMR pursuant to extended 
implementation authorizations, nor how many of these providers have 
annual revenues of no more than $15 million. One firm has over $15 
million in revenues. In addition, we do not know how many of these 
firms have 1,500 or fewer employees.\124\ We assume, for purposes of 
this analysis, that all of the remaining existing extended 
implementation authorizations are held by small entities, as that 
small business size standard is approved by the SBA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \124\ See generally 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    39. 220 MHz Radio Service--Phase I Licensees. The 220 MHz 
service has both Phase I and Phase II licenses. Phase I licensing 
was conducted by lotteries in 1992 and 1993. There are approximately 
1,515 such non-nationwide licensees and four nationwide licensees 
currently authorized to operate in the 220 MHz band. The Commission 
has not developed a definition of small entities specifically 
applicable to such incumbent 220 MHz Phase I licensees. To estimate 
the number of such licensees that are small businesses, we apply the 
small business size standard under the SBA rules applicable to 
Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite).\125\ This 
category provides that a small business is a wireless company 
employing no more than 1,500 persons.\126\ The Commission estimates 
that most such licensees are small businesses under the SBA's small 
business standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \125\ Id.
    \126\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    40. 220 MHz Radio Service--Phase II Licensees. The 220 MHz 
service has both Phase I and Phase II licenses. The Phase II 220 MHz 
service licenses are assigned by auction, where mutually exclusive 
applications are accepted. In the 220 MHz Third Report and Order, 
the Commission adopted a small business size standard for defining 
``small'' and ``very small'' businesses for purposes of determining 
their eligibility for special provisions such as bidding credits and 
installment payments.\127\ This small business standard indicates 
that a ``small business'' is an entity that, together with its 
affiliates and controlling principals, has average gross revenues 
not exceeding $15 million for the preceding three years.\128\ A 
``very small business'' is defined as an entity that, together with 
its affiliates and controlling principals, has average gross 
revenues that do not exceed $3 million for the preceding three 
years.\129\ The SBA has approved these small size standards.\130\ A 
small business is eligible for a 25 percent discount on its winning 
bid. A very small business is eligible for a 35 percent discount on 
its winning bid. The first auction of Phase II licenses was 
conducted in 1998.\131\ In the first auction, 908 licenses were 
offered in three different-sized geographic areas: three nationwide 
licenses, 30 Regional Economic Area Group (``EAG'') Licenses, and 
875 Economic Area (EA) Licenses. Of the 908 licenses auctioned, 693 
were sold.\132\ Thirty-nine small businesses won 373 licenses in the 
first 220 MHz auction. A second auction in 1999 included 225 
licenses: 216 EA licenses and 9 EAG licenses. Fourteen companies 
claiming small business status won 158 licenses.\133\ A third 
auction included four licenses: 2 BEA licenses and 2 EAG licenses in 
the 220 MHz Service. No small or very small business won any of 
these licenses.\134\ In 2007, the Commission conducted a fourth 
auction of the 220 MHz licenses, designated as Auction 72.\135\ 
Auction 72 offered 94 Phase II 220 MHz Service licenses.\136\ In 
this auction, five winning bidders won a total of 76 licenses.\137\ 
Two winning bidders identified themselves as very small businesses 
won 56 of the 76 licenses. One of the winning bidders that 
identified itself as a small business won 5 of the 76 licenses won.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \127\ Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission's Rules to Provide 
For the Use of the 220-222 MHz Band by the Private Land Mobile Radio 
Service, Third Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 10943, 11068-70, paras. 
291-295 (1997).
    \128\ Id. at 11068, para. 291.
    \129\ Id.
    \130\ See Letter from Aida Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, to 
Daniel Phythyon, Chief, WTB, FCC (Jan. 6, 1998) (``Alvarez to 
Phythyon Letter 1998'').
    \131\ See generally ``220 MHz Service Auction Closes,'' Public 
Notice, 14 FCC Rcd 605 (1998).
    \132\ See ``FCC Announces It is Prepared to Grant 654 Phase II 
220 MHz Licenses After Final Payment is Made,'' Public Notice, 14 
FCC Rcd 1085 (1999).
    \133\ See ``Phase II 220 MHz Service Spectrum Auction Closes,'' 
Public Notice, 14 FCC Rcd 11218 (1999).
    \134\ See ``Multi-Radio Service Auction Closes,'' Public Notice, 
17 FCC Rcd 1446 (2002).
    \135\ See ``Auction of Phase II 220 MHz Service Spectrum 
Scheduled for June 20, 2007, Notice and Filing Requirements, Minimum 
Opening Bids, Upfront Payments and Other Procedures for Auction 72, 
Public Notice, 22 FCC Rcd 3404 (2007).
    \136\ Id.
    \137\ See ``Auction of Phase II 220 MHz Service Spectrum 
Licenses Closes, Winning Bidders Announced for Auction 72, Down 
Payments due July 18, 2007, FCC Forms 601 and 602 due July 18, 2007, 
Final Payments due August 1, 2007, Ten-Day Petition to Deny Period, 
Public Notice, 22 FCC Rcd 11573 (2007).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    41. Cellular Radiotelephone Service. Auction 77 was held to 
resolve one group of mutually exclusive applications for Cellular 
Radiotelephone Service licenses for unserved areas in New 
Mexico.\138\ Bidding credits for designated entities were not 
available in Auction 77.\139\ In 2008, the Commission completed the 
closed auction of one unserved service area in the Cellular 
Radiotelephone Service, designated as Auction 77. Auction 77 
concluded with one provisionally winning bid for the unserved area 
totaling $25,002.\140\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \138\ See Closed Auction of Licenses for Cellular Unserved 
Service Area Scheduled for June 17, 2008, Notice and Filing 
Requirements, Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments, and Other 
Procedures for Auction 77, Public Notice, 23 FCC Rcd 6670 (2008).
    \139\ Id. at 6685.
    \140\ See Auction of Cellular Unserved Service Area License 
Closes, Winning Bidder Announced for Auction 77, Down Payment due 
July 2, 2008, Final Payment due July 17, 2008, Public Notice, 23 FCC 
Rcd 9501 (2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    42. Private Land Mobile Radio (``PLMR''). PLMR systems serve an 
essential role in a range of industrial, business, land 
transportation, and public safety activities. These radios are used 
by companies of all sizes operating in all U.S. business categories, 
and are often used in support of the licensee's primary (non-
telecommunications) business operations. For the purpose of 
determining whether a licensee of a PLMR system is a small business 
as defined by the SBA, we use the broad census category, Wireless 
Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite). This definition 
provides that a small entity is any such entity employing no more 
than 1,500 persons.\141\ The Commission does not require PLMR 
licensees to disclose information about number of employees, so the 
Commission does not have information that could be used to determine 
how many PLMR licensees constitute small entities under this 
definition. We note that PLMR licensees generally use the licensed 
facilities in support of other business activities, and therefore, 
it would also be helpful to assess PLMR licensees under the 
standards applied to the particular industry subsector to which the 
licensee belongs.\142\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \141\ See 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
    \142\ See generally 13 CFR 121.201.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    43. As of March 2010, there were 424,162 PLMR licensees 
operating 921,909 transmitters in the PLMR bands below 512 MHz. We 
note that any entity engaged in a commercial activity is eligible to 
hold a PLMR license, and that any revised rules in this context 
could therefore potentially impact small entities covering a great 
variety of industries.
    44. Fixed Microwave Services. Fixed microwave services include 
common carrier,\143\ private operational-fixed,\144\ and broadcast 
auxiliary radio services.\145\ At present, there are approximately 
22,015 common carrier fixed licensees and 61,670 private 
operational-fixed licensees and broadcast auxiliary radio licensees 
in the

[[Page 41951]]

microwave services. The Commission has not created a size standard 
for a small business specifically with respect to fixed microwave 
services. For purposes of this analysis, the Commission uses the SBA 
small business size standard for the category Wireless 
Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite), which is 1,500 or 
fewer employees.\146\ The Commission does not have data specifying 
the number of these licensees that have no more than 1,500 
employees, and thus are unable at this time to estimate with greater 
precision the number of fixed microwave service licensees that would 
qualify as small business concerns under the SBA's small business 
size standard. Consequently, the Commission estimates that there are 
22,015 or fewer common carrier fixed licensees and 61,670 or fewer 
private operational-fixed licensees and broadcast auxiliary radio 
licensees in the microwave services that may be small and may be 
affected by the rules and policies proposed herein. We note, 
however, that the common carrier microwave fixed licensee category 
includes some large entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \143\ See 47 CFR 101 et seq. for common carrier fixed microwave 
services (except Multipoint Distribution Service).
    \144\ Persons eligible under parts 80 and 90 of the Commission's 
rules can use Private Operational-Fixed Microwave services. See 47 
CFR Parts 80 and 90. Stations in this service are called 
operational-fixed to distinguish them from common carrier and public 
fixed stations. Only the licensee may use the operational-fixed 
station, and only for communications related to the licensee's 
commercial, industrial, or safety operations.
    \145\ Auxiliary Microwave Service is governed by Part 74 of 
Title 47 of the Commission's rules. See 47 CFR Part 74. This service 
is available to licensees of broadcast stations and to broadcast and 
cable network entities. Broadcast auxiliary microwave stations are 
used for relaying broadcast television signals from the studio to 
the transmitter, or between two points such as a main studio and an 
auxiliary studio. The service also includes mobile television 
pickups, which relay signals from a remote location back to the 
studio.
    \146\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    45. 39 GHz Service. The Commission created a special small 
business size standard for 39 GHz licenses--an entity that has 
average gross revenues of $40 million or less in the three previous 
calendar years.\147\ An additional size standard for ``very small 
business'' is: an entity that, together with affiliates, has average 
gross revenues of not more than $15 million for the preceding three 
calendar years.\148\ The SBA has approved these small business size 
standards.\149\ The auction of the 2,173, 39 GHz licenses was 
conducted in 2000. The 18 bidders who claimed small business status 
won 849 licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \147\ See Amendment of the Commission's Rules Regarding the 
37.0-38.6 GHz and 38.6-40.0 GHz Bands, ET Docket No. 95-183, Report 
and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 18600 (1997).
    \148\ Id.
    \149\  See Letter from Aida Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, to 
Kathleen O'Brien Ham, Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis 
Division, WTB, FCC (Feb. 4, 1998); see Letter from Hector Barreto, 
Administrator, SBA, to Margaret Wiener, Chief, Auctions and Industry 
Analysis Division, WTB, FCC (Jan. 18, 2002).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    46. Local Multipoint Distribution Service. Local Multipoint 
Distribution Service (``LMDS'') is a fixed broadband point-to-
multipoint microwave service that provides for two-way video 
telecommunications.\150\ The auction of the 986 LMDS licenses began 
and closed in 1998. The Commission established a small business size 
standard for LMDS licenses as an entity that has average gross 
revenues of less than $40 million in the three previous calendar 
years.\151\ An additional small business size standard for ``very 
small business'' was added as an entity that, together with its 
affiliates, has average gross revenues of not more than $15 million 
for the preceding three calendar years.\152\ The SBA has approved 
these small business size standards in the context of LMDS 
auctions.\153\ There were 93 winning bidders that qualified as small 
entities in the LMDS auctions. A total of 93 small and very small 
business bidders won approximately 277 A Block licenses and 387 B 
Block licenses. In 1999, the Commission re-auctioned 161 licenses; 
there were 32 small and very small businesses that won 119 licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \150\ See Rulemaking to Amend Parts 1, 2, 21, 25, of the 
Commission's Rules to Redesignate the 27.5-29.5 GHz Frequency Band, 
Reallocate the 29.5-30.5 Frequency Band, to Establish Rules and 
Policies for Local Multipoint Distribution Service and for Fixed 
Satellite Services, Second Report and Order, Order on 
Reconsideration, and Fifth Notice of Proposed Rule Making, 12 FCC 
Rcd 12545, 12689-90, para. 348 (1997) (``LMDS Second Report and 
Order'').
    \151\ See LMDS Second Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 12689-90, 
para. 348.
    \152\ See id.
    \153\  See Alvarez to Phythyon Letter 1998.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    47. 218-219 MHz Service. The first auction of 218-219 MHz 
(previously referred to as the Interactive and Video Data Service or 
IVDS) spectrum resulted in 178 entities winning licenses for 594 
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (``MSAs'').\154\ Of the 594 licenses, 
567 were won by 167 entities qualifying as a small business. For 
that auction, the Commission defined a small business as an entity 
that, together with its affiliates, has no more than a $6 million 
net worth and, after federal income taxes (excluding any carry over 
losses), has no more than $2 million in annual profits each year for 
the previous two years.\155\ In the 218-219 MHz Report and Order and 
Memorandum Opinion and Order, we defined a small business as an 
entity that, together with its affiliates and persons or entities 
that hold interests in such an entity and their affiliates, has 
average annual gross revenues not exceeding $15 million for the 
preceding three years.\156\ A very small business is defined as an 
entity that, together with its affiliates and persons or entities 
that hold interests in such an entity and its affiliates, has 
average annual gross revenues not exceeding $3 million for the 
preceding three years.\157\ The SBA has approved of these 
definitions.\158\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \154\ See ``Interactive Video and Data Service (IVDS) 
Applications Accepted for Filing,'' Public Notice, 9 FCC Rcd 6227 
(1994).
    \155\ Implementation of Section 309(j) of the Communications 
Act--Competitive Bidding, Fourth Report and Order, 9 FCC Rcd 2330 
(1994).
    \156\ Amendment of Part 95 of the Commission's Rules to Provide 
Regulatory Flexibility in the 218-219 MHz Service, Report and Order 
and Memorandum Opinion and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 1497 (1999).
    \157\ Id.
    \158\  See Alvarez to Phythyon Letter 1998.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    48. Location and Monitoring Service (``LMS''). Multilateration 
LMS systems use non-voice radio techniques to determine the location 
and status of mobile radio units. For purposes of auctioning LMS 
licenses, the Commission has defined ``small business'' as an entity 
that, together with controlling interests and affiliates, has 
average annual gross revenues for the preceding three years not 
exceeding $15 million.\159\ A ``very small business'' is defined as 
an entity that, together with controlling interests and affiliates, 
has average annual gross revenues for the preceding three years not 
exceeding $3 million.\160\ These definitions have been approved by 
the SBA.\161\ An auction for LMS licenses was conducted in 1999. Of 
the 528 licenses auctioned, 289 licenses were sold to four small 
businesses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \159\ Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission's Rules to Adopt 
Regulations for Automatic Vehicle Monitoring Systems, Second Report 
and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 15182, 15192, para 20 (1998) (``Automatic 
Vehicle Monitoring Systems Second Report and Order''); see also 47 
CFR 90.1103.
    \160\ Automatic Vehicle Monitoring Systems Second Report and 
Order, 13 FCC Rcd at 15192, para. 20; see also 47 CFR 90.1103.
    \161\ See Alvarez Letter 1998.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    49. Rural Radiotelephone Service. The Commission has not adopted 
a size standard for small businesses specific to the Rural 
Radiotelephone Service.\162\ A significant subset of the Rural 
Radiotelephone Service is the Basic Exchange Telephone Radio System 
(``BETRS'').\163\ In the present context, we will use the SBA's 
small business size standard applicable to Wireless 
Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite), i.e., an entity 
employing no more than 1,500 persons.\164\ There are approximately 
1,000 licensees in the Rural Radiotelephone Service, and the 
Commission estimates that there are 1,000 or fewer small entity 
licensees in the Rural Radiotelephone Service that may be affected 
by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \162\ The service is defined in 22.99 of the Commission's rules, 
47 CFR 22.99.
    \163\ BETRS is defined in 22.757 and 22.759 of the Commission's 
rules, 47 CFR 22.757 and 22.759.
    \164\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    50. Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service.\165\ The Commission has 
previously used the SBA's small business definition applicable to 
Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite), i.e., an 
entity employing no more than 1,500 persons.\166\ There are 
approximately 100 licensees in the Air-Ground Radiotelephone 
Service, and under that definition, we estimate that almost all of 
them qualify as small entities under the SBA definition. For 
purposes of assigning Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service licenses 
through competitive bidding, the Commission has defined ``small 
business'' as an entity that, together with controlling interests 
and affiliates, has average annual gross revenues for the preceding 
three years not exceeding $40 million.\167\ A ``very small 
business'' is defined as an entity that, together with controlling 
interests and affiliates, has average annual gross revenues for the 
preceding three years not exceeding $15 million.\168\ These 
definitions were approved by the SBA.\169\ In 2006, the

[[Page 41952]]

Commission completed an auction of nationwide commercial Air-Ground 
Radiotelephone Service licenses in the 800 MHz band (Auction 65). 
The auction closed with two winning bidders winning two Air-Ground 
Radiotelephone Services licenses. Neither of the winning bidders 
claimed small business status.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \165\ The service is defined in 22.99 of the Commission's rules, 
47 CFR 22.99.
    \166\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 517210.
    \167\ Amendment of Part 22 of the Commission's Rules to Benefit 
the Consumers of Air-Ground Telecommunications Services, Biennial 
Regulatory Review--Amendment of Parts 1, 22, and 90 of the 
Commission's Rules, Amendment of Parts 1 and 22 of the Commission's 
Rules to Adopt Competitive Bidding Rules for Commercial and General 
Aviation Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service, WT Docket Nos. 03-103 
and 05-42, Order on Reconsideration and Report and Order, 20 FCC Rcd 
19663, paras. 28-42 (2005).
    \168\ Id.
    \169\ See Letter from Hector V. Barreto, Administrator, SBA, to 
Gary D. Michaels, Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access 
Division, WTB, FCC (Sept. 19, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    51. Aviation and Marine Radio Services. There are approximately 
26,162 aviation, 34,555 marine (ship), and 3,296 marine (coast) 
licensees.\170\ The Commission has not developed a small business 
size standard specifically applicable to all licensees. For purposes 
of this analysis, we will use the SBA small business size standard 
for the category Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except 
Satellite), which is 1,500 or fewer employees.\171\ We are unable to 
determine how many of those licensed fall under this standard. For 
purposes of our evaluations in this analysis, we estimate that there 
are up to approximately 62,969 licensees that are small businesses 
under the SBA standard.\172\ In 1998, the Commission held an auction 
of 42 VHF Public Coast licenses in the 157.1875-157.4500 MHz (ship 
transmit) and 161.775-162.0125 MHz (coast transmit) bands. For this 
auction, the Commission defined a ``small'' business as an entity 
that, together with controlling interests and affiliates, has 
average gross revenues for the preceding three years not to exceed 
$15 million. In addition, a ``very small'' business is one that, 
together with controlling interests and affiliates, has average 
gross revenues for the preceding three years not to exceed $3 
million.\173\ Further, the Commission made available Automated 
Maritime Telecommunications System (``AMTS'') licenses in Auctions 
57 and 61.\174\ Winning bidders could claim status as a small 
business or a very small business. A very small business for this 
service is defined as an entity with attributed average annual gross 
revenues that do not exceed $3 million for the preceding three 
years, and a small business is defined as an entity with attributed 
average annual gross revenues of more than $3 million but less than 
$15 million for the preceding three years.\175\ Three of the winning 
bidders in Auction 57 qualified as small or very small businesses, 
while three winning entities in Auction 61 qualified as very small 
businesses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \170\ Vessels that are not required by law to carry a radio and 
do not make international voyages or communications are not required 
to obtain an individual license. See Amendment of Parts 80 and 87 of 
the Commission's rules to Permit Operation of Certain Domestic Ship 
and Aircraft Radio Stations Without Individual Licenses, Report and 
Order, WT Docket No. 96-82, 11 FCC Rcd 14849 (1996).
    \171\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
    \172\ A licensee may have a license in more than one category.
    \173\ Amendment of the Commission's Rules Concerning Maritime 
Communications, PR Docket No. 92-257, Third Report and Order and 
Memorandum Opinion and Order, 13 FCC Rcd 19853 (1998).
    \174\ See ``Automated Maritime Telecommunications System 
Spectrum Auction Scheduled for September 15, 2004, Notice and Filing 
Requirements, Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments and Other 
Auction Procedures,'' Public Notice, 19 FCC Rcd 9518 (WTB 2004); 
``Auction of Automated Maritime Telecommunications System Licenses 
Scheduled for August 3, 2005, Notice and Filing Requirements, 
Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments and Other Auction Procedures 
for Auction No. 61,'' Public Notice, 20 FCC Rcd 7811 (WTB 2005).
    \175\ 47 CFR 80.1252.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    52. Offshore Radiotelephone Service. This service operates on 
several ultra high frequencies (``UHF'') television broadcast 
channels that are not used for television broadcasting in the 
coastal areas of states bordering the Gulf of Mexico.\176\ There is 
presently 1 licensee in this service. We do not have information 
whether that licensee would qualify as small under the SBA's small 
business size standard for Wireless Telecommunications Carriers 
(except Satellite) services.\177\ Under that SBA small business size 
standard, a business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer 
employees.\178\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \176\ This service is governed by Subpart I of Part 22 of the 
Commission's rules. See 47 CFR 22.1001-22.1037.
    \177\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
    \178\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    53. Multiple Address Systems (``MAS''). Entities using MAS 
spectrum, in general, fall into two categories: (1) Those using the 
spectrum for profit-based uses, and (2) those using the spectrum for 
private internal uses. The Commission defines a small business for 
MAS licenses as an entity that has average gross revenues of less 
than $15 million in the three previous calendar years.\179\ A very 
small business is defined as an entity that, together with its 
affiliates, has average gross revenues of not more than $3 million 
for the preceding three calendar years.\180\ The SBA has approved 
these definitions.\181\ The majority of these entities will most 
likely be licensed in bands where the Commission has implemented a 
geographic area licensing approach that would require the use of 
competitive bidding procedures to resolve mutually exclusive 
applications. The Commission's licensing database indicates that, as 
of March 5, 2010, there were over 11,500 MAS station authorizations. 
In addition, an auction for 5,104 MAS licenses in 176 EAs was 
conducted in 2001.\182\ Seven winning bidders claimed status as 
small or very small businesses and won 611 licenses. In 2005, the 
Commission completed an auction (Auction 59) of 4,226 MAS licenses 
in the Fixed Microwave Services from the 928/959 and 932/941 MHz 
bands. Twenty-six winning bidders won a total of 2,323 licenses. Of 
the 26 winning bidders in this auction, five claimed small business 
status and won 1,891 licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \179\ See Amendment of the Commission's Rules Regarding Multiple 
Address Systems, Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd 11956, 12008, para. 
123 (2000).
    \180\ Id.
    \181\ See Alvarez Letter 1999.
    \182\ See ``Multiple Address Systems Spectrum Auction Closes,'' 
Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 21011 (2001).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    54. With respect to entities that use, or seek to use, MAS 
spectrum to accommodate internal communications needs, we note that 
MAS serves an essential role in a range of industrial, safety, 
business, and land transportation activities. MAS radios are used by 
companies of all sizes, operating in virtually all U.S. business 
categories, and by all types of public safety entities. For the 
majority of private internal users, the small business size standard 
developed by the SBA would be more appropriate. The applicable size 
standard in this instance appears to be that of Wireless 
Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite). This definition 
provides that a small entity is any such entity employing no more 
than 1,500 persons.\183\ The Commission's licensing database 
indicates that, as of January 20, 1999, of the 8,670 total MAS 
station authorizations, 8,410 authorizations were for private radio 
service, and of these, 1,433 were for private land mobile radio 
service.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \183\ See 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    55. 1.4 GHz Band Licensees. The Commission conducted an auction 
of 64 1.4 GHz band licenses \184\ in 2007.\185\ In that auction, the 
Commission defined ``small business'' as an entity that, together 
with its affiliates and controlling interests, had average gross 
revenues that exceed $15 million but do not exceed $40 million for 
the preceding three years, and a ``very small business'' as an 
entity that, together with its affiliates and controlling interests, 
has had average annual gross revenues not exceeding $15 million for 
the preceding three years.\186\ Neither of the two winning bidders 
sought designated entity status.\187\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \184\ See ``Auction of 1.4 GHz Bands Licenses Scheduled for 
February 7, 2007,'' Public Notice, 21 FCC Rcd 12393 (WTB 2006).
    \185\ See ``Auction of 1.4 GHz Band Licenses Closes; Winning 
Bidders Announced for Auction No. 69,'' Public Notice, 22 FCC Rcd 
4714 (2007) (``Auction No. 69 Closing PN'').
    \186\ Auction No. 69 Closing PN, Attachment C.
    \187\ See Auction No. 69 Closing PN.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    56. Incumbent 24 GHz Licensees. This analysis may affect 
incumbent licensees who were relocated to the 24 GHz band from the 
18 GHz band, and applicants who wish to provide services in the 24 
GHz band. The applicable SBA small business size standard is that of 
Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite). This 
category provides that such a company is small if it employs no more 
than 1,500 persons.\188\ The broader census data notwithstanding, we 
believe that there are only two licensees in the 24 GHz band that 
were relocated from the 18 GHz band, Teligent \189\ and TRW, Inc. It 
is our understanding that Teligent and its related companies have 
fewer than 1,500 employees, though this may change in the future. 
TRW is not a small entity. There are approximately 122 licensees in 
the Rural Radiotelephone Service, and the Commission estimates that 
there are 122 or fewer small entity licensees in the Rural 
Radiotelephone Service that may be affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \188\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
    \189\ Teligent acquired the DEMS licenses of FirstMark, the only 
licensee other than TRW in the 24 GHz band whose license has been 
modified to require relocation to the 24 GHz band.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    57. Future 24 GHz Licensees. With respect to new applicants in 
the 24 GHz band, we have defined ``small business'' as an entity 
that, together with controlling interests and affiliates, has 
average annual gross revenues for the three preceding years not 
exceeding

[[Page 41953]]

$15 million.\190\ ``Very small business'' in the 24 GHz band is 
defined as an entity that, together with controlling interests and 
affiliates, has average gross revenues not exceeding $3 million for 
the preceding three years.\191\ The SBA has approved these 
definitions.\192\ In a 2004 auction of 24 GHz licenses, three 
winning bidders won seven licenses. Two of the winning bidders were 
very small businesses that won five licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \190\ Amendments to Parts 1, 2, 87 and 101 of the Commission's 
Rules To License Fixed Services at 24 GHz, Report and Order, 15 FCC 
Rcd 16934, 16967, para. 77 (2000) (``24 GHz Report and Order''); see 
also 47 CFR 101.538(a)(2).
    \191\ 24 GHz Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd at 16967, para. 77; 
see also 47 CFR 101.538(a)(1).
    \192\ See Letter from Gary M. Jackson, Assistant Administrator, 
SBA, to Margaret W. Wiener, Deputy Chief, Auctions and Industry 
Analysis Division, WTB, FCC (July 28, 2000).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    58. Broadband Radio Service and Educational Broadband Service. 
Broadband Radio Service systems, previously referred to as 
Multipoint Distribution Service (``MDS'') and Multichannel 
Multipoint Distribution Service (``MMDS'') systems, and ``wireless 
cable,'' transmit video programming to subscribers and provide two-
way high speed data operations using the microwave frequencies of 
the Broadband Radio Service (``BRS'') and Educational Broadband 
Service (``EBS'') (previously referred to as the Instructional 
Television Fixed Service (``ITFS'')).\193\ In connection with the 
1996 BRS auction, the Commission established a small business size 
standard as an entity that had annual average gross revenues of no 
more than $40 million in the previous three calendar years.\194\ The 
BRS auctions resulted in 67 successful bidders obtaining licensing 
opportunities for 493 Basic Trading Areas (``BTAs''). Of the 67 
auction winners, 61 met the definition of a small business. BRS also 
includes licensees of stations authorized prior to the auction. At 
this time, we estimate that of the 61 small business BRS auction 
winners, 48 remain small business licensees. In addition to the 48 
small businesses that hold BTA authorizations, there are 
approximately 392 incumbent BRS licensees that are considered small 
entities.\195\ After adding the number of small business auction 
licensees to the number of incumbent licensees not already counted, 
we find that there are currently approximately 440 BRS licensees 
that are defined as small businesses under either the SBA or the 
Commission's rules. The Commission has adopted three levels of 
bidding credits for BRS: (i) a bidder with attributed average annual 
gross revenues that exceed $15 million and do not exceed $40 million 
for the preceding three years (small business) will receive a 15 
percent discount on its winning bid; (ii) a bidder with attributed 
average annual gross revenues that exceed $3 million and do not 
exceed $15 million for the preceding three years (very small 
business) will receive a 25 percent discount on its winning bid; and 
(iii) a bidder with attributed average annual gross revenues that do 
not exceed $3 million for the preceding three years (entrepreneur) 
will receive a 35 percent discount on its winning bid.\196\ In 2009, 
the Commission conducted Auction 86, which offered 78 BRS 
licenses.\197\ Auction 86 concluded with the sale of 61 
licenses.\198\ Of the ten winning bidders, three bidders that 
claimed small business status won 7 licenses, and two bidders that 
claimed entrepreneur status won six licenses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \193\ Amendment of Parts 21 and 74 of the Commission's Rules 
with Regard to Filing Procedures in the Multipoint Distribution 
Service and in the Instructional Television Fixed Service and 
Implementation of Section 309(j) of the Communications Act--
Competitive Bidding, MM Docket No. 94-131 and PP Docket No. 93-253, 
Report and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 9589, 9593, para. 7 (1995) (``MDS 
Auction R&O'').
    \194\ 47 CFR 21.961(b)(1).
    \195\ 47 U.S.C. 309(j). Hundreds of stations were licensed to 
incumbent MDS licensees prior to implementation of Section 309(j) of 
the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 309(j). For these pre-
auction licenses, the applicable standard is SBA's small business 
size standard.
    \196\ Id. at 8296.
    \197\ Auction of Broadband Radio Service (BRS) Licenses, 
Scheduled for October 27, 2009, Notice and Filing Requirements, 
Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments, and Other Procedures for 
Auction 86, Public Notice, 24 FCC Rcd 8277 (2009).
    \198\ Auction of Broadband Radio Service Licenses Closes, 
Winning Bidders Announced for Auction 86, Down Payments Due November 
23, 2009, Final Payments Due December 8, 2009, Ten-Day Petition to 
Deny Period, Public Notice, 24 FCC Rcd 13572 (2009).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    59. In addition, the SBA's Cable Television Distribution 
Services small business size standard is applicable to EBS. There 
are presently 2,032 EBS licensees. All but 100 of these licenses are 
held by educational institutions. Educational institutions are 
included in this analysis as small entities.\199\ Thus, we estimate 
that at least 1,932 licensees are small businesses. Since 2007, 
Cable Television Distribution Services have been defined within the 
broad economic census category of Wired Telecommunications Carriers; 
that category is defined as follows: ``This industry comprises 
establishments primarily engaged in operating and/or providing 
access to transmission facilities and infrastructure that they own 
and/or lease for the transmission of voice, data, text, sound, and 
video using wired telecommunications networks. Transmission 
facilities may be based on a single technology or a combination of 
technologies.'' \200\ The SBA has developed a small business size 
standard for this category, which is: all such firms having 1,500 or 
fewer employees. To gauge small business prevalence for these cable 
services we must, however, use current census data that are based on 
the previous category of Cable and Other Program Distribution and 
its associated size standard; that size standard was: All such firms 
having $13.5 million or less in annual receipts.\201\ According to 
Census Bureau data for 2002, there were a total of 1,191 firms in 
this previous category that operated for the entire year.\202\ Of 
this total, 1,087 firms had annual receipts of under $10 million, 
and 43 firms had receipts of $10 million or more but less than $25 
million.\203\ Thus, the majority of these firms can be considered 
small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \199\ The term ``small entity'' within SBREFA applies to small 
organizations (nonprofits) and to small governmental jurisdictions 
(cities, counties, towns, townships, villages, school districts, and 
special districts with populations of less than 50,000). 5 U.S.C. 
601(4)-(6). We do not collect annual revenue data on EBS licensees.
    \200\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517110 Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers'' (partial definition); http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517110.HTM#N517110.
    \201\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \202\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, Table 4, Receipts Size of Firms for the United States: 
2002, NAICS code 517510 (issued November 2005).
    \203\ Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts of $25 
million or more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    60. Television Broadcasting. This Economic Census category 
``comprises establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting images 
together with sound. These establishments operate television 
broadcasting studios and facilities for the programming and 
transmission of programs to the public.'' \204\ The SBA has created 
the following small business size standard for Television 
Broadcasting firms: Those having $14 million or less in annual 
receipts.\205\ The Commission has estimated the number of licensed 
commercial television stations to be 1,395.\206\ In addition, 
according to Commission staff review of the BIA Publications, Inc., 
Master Access Television Analyzer Database (BIA) on March 30, 2007, 
about 986 of an estimated 1,395 commercial television stations (or 
approximately 72 percent) had revenues of $13 million or less.\207\ 
We therefore estimate that the majority of commercial television 
broadcasters are small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \204\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``515120 
Television Broadcasting'' (partial definition); http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND515120.HTM#N515120.
    \205\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 515120 (updated for inflation 
in 2008).
    \206\ See FCC News Release, ``Broadcast Station Totals as of 
June 30, 2009,'' dated September 4, 2009; http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db0318/DOC-280836A1.pdf.
    \207\ We recognize that BIA's estimate differs slightly from the 
FCC total given supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    61. We note, however, that in assessing whether a business 
concern qualifies as small under the above definition, business 
(control) affiliations \208\ must be included. Our estimate, 
therefore, likely overstates the number of small entities that might 
be affected by our action, because the revenue figure on which it is 
based does not include or aggregate revenues from affiliated 
companies. In addition, an element of the definition of ``small 
business'' is that the entity not be dominant in its field of 
operation. We are unable at this time to define or quantify the 
criteria that would establish whether a specific television station 
is dominant in its field of operation. Accordingly, the estimate of 
small businesses to which rules may apply does not exclude any 
television station from the definition of a small business on this 
basis and is therefore possibly over-inclusive to that extent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \208\ ``[Business concerns] are affiliates of each other when 
one concern controls or has the power to control the other or a 
third party or parties controls or has the power to control both.'' 
13 CFR 21.103(a)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    62. In addition, the Commission has estimated the number of 
licensed

[[Page 41954]]

noncommercial educational (NCE) television stations to be 390.\209\ 
These stations are non-profit, and therefore considered to be small 
entities.\210\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \209\ See FCC News Release, ``Broadcast Station Totals as of 
June 30, 2009,'' dated September 4, 2009; http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db0318/DOC-280836A1.pdf.
    \210\ See generally 5 U.S.C. 601(4), (6).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    63. In addition, there are also 2,386 low power television 
stations (LPTV).\211\ Given the nature of this service, we will 
presume that all LPTV licensees qualify as small entities under the 
above SBA small business size standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \211\ See FCC News Release, ``Broadcast Station Totals as of 
June 30, 2009,'' dated September 4, 2009; http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2008/db0318/DOC-280836A1.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    64. Radio Broadcasting. This Economic Census category 
``comprises establishments primarily engaged in broadcasting aural 
programs by radio to the public. Programming may originate in their 
own studio, from an affiliated network, or from external sources.'' 
\212\ The SBA has established a small business size standard for 
this category, which is: Such firms having $7 million or less in 
annual receipts.\213\ According to Commission staff review of BIA 
Publications, Inc.'s Master Access Radio Analyzer Database on March 
31, 2005, about 10,840 (95%) of 11,410 commercial radio stations had 
revenues of $6 million or less. Therefore, the majority of such 
entities are small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \212\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``515112 Radio 
Stations''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND515112.HTM#N515112.
    \213\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 515112 (updated for inflation 
in 2008).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    65. We note, however, that in assessing whether a business 
concern qualifies as small under the above size standard, business 
affiliations must be included.\214\ In addition, to be determined to 
be a ``small business,'' the entity may not be dominant in its field 
of operation.\215\ We note that it is difficult at times to assess 
these criteria in the context of media entities, and our estimate of 
small businesses may therefore be over-inclusive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \214\ ``Concerns and entities are affiliates of each other when 
one controls or has the power to control the other, or a third party 
or parties controls or has the power to control both. It does not 
matter whether control is exercised, so long as the power to control 
exists.'' 13 CFR 121.103(a)(1) (an SBA regulation).
    \215\ 13 CFR 121.102(b) (an SBA regulation).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    66. Auxiliary, Special Broadcast and Other Program Distribution 
Services. This service involves a variety of transmitters, generally 
used to relay broadcast programming to the public (through 
translator and booster stations) or within the program distribution 
chain (from a remote news gathering unit back to the station). The 
Commission has not developed a definition of small entities 
applicable to broadcast auxiliary licensees. The applicable 
definitions of small entities are those, noted previously, under the 
SBA rules applicable to radio broadcasting stations and television 
broadcasting stations.\216\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \216\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 515112 and 515120.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    67. The Commission estimates that there are approximately 5,618 
FM translators and boosters.\217\ The Commission does not collect 
financial information on any broadcast facility, and the Department 
of Commerce does not collect financial information on these 
auxiliary broadcast facilities. We believe that most, if not all, of 
these auxiliary facilities could be classified as small businesses 
by themselves. We also recognize that most commercial translators 
and boosters are owned by a parent station which, in some cases, 
would be covered by the revenue definition of small business entity 
discussed above. These stations would likely have annual revenues 
that exceed the SBA maximum to be designated as a small business 
($7.0 million for a radio station or $14.0 million for a TV 
station). Furthermore, they do not meet the Small Business Act's 
definition of a ``small business concern'' because they are not 
independently owned and operated.\218\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \217\ See supra note 242.
    \218\ See 15 U.S.C. 632.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    68. Cable Television Distribution Services. Since 2007, these 
services have been defined within the broad economic census category 
of Wired Telecommunications Carriers; that category is defined as 
follows: ``This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged 
in operating and/or providing access to transmission facilities and 
infrastructure that they own and/or lease for the transmission of 
voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications 
networks. Transmission facilities may be based on a single 
technology or a combination of technologies.'' \219\ The SBA has 
developed a small business size standard for this category, which 
is: all such firms having 1,500 or fewer employees. To gauge small 
business prevalence for these cable services we must, however, use 
current census data that are based on the previous category of Cable 
and Other Program Distribution and its associated size standard; 
that size standard was: all such firms having $13.5 million or less 
in annual receipts.\220\ According to Census Bureau data for 2002, 
there were a total of 1,191 firms in this previous category that 
operated for the entire year.\221\ Of this total, 1,087 firms had 
annual receipts of under $10 million, and 43 firms had receipts of 
$10 million or more but less than $25 million.\222\ Thus, the 
majority of these firms can be considered small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \219\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517110 Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers'' (partial definition); http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517110.HTM#N517110.
    \220\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \221\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, Table 4, Receipts Size of Firms for the United States: 
2002, NAICS code 517510 (issued November 2005).
    \222\ Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts of $25 
million or more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    69. Cable Companies and Systems. The Commission has also 
developed its own small business size standards, for the purpose of 
cable rate regulation. Under the Commission's rules, a ``small cable 
company'' is one serving 400,000 or fewer subscribers, 
nationwide.\223\ Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 cable 
operators nationwide, all but eleven are small under this size 
standard.\224\ In addition, under the Commission's rules, a ``small 
system'' is a cable system serving 15,000 or fewer subscribers.\225\ 
Industry data indicate that, of 6,635 systems nationwide, 5,802 
systems have under 10,000 subscribers, and an additional 302 systems 
have 10,000-19,999 subscribers.\226\ Thus, under this second size 
standard, most cable systems are small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \223\ 47 CFR 76.901(e). The Commission determined that this size 
standard equates approximately to a size standard of $100 million or 
less in annual revenues. Implementation of Sections of the 1992 
Cable Act: Rate Regulation, Sixth Report and Order and Eleventh 
Order on Reconsideration, 10 FCC Rcd 7393, 7408 (1995).
    \224\ These data are derived from: R.R. Bowker, Broadcasting & 
Cable Yearbook 2006, ``Top 25 Cable/Satellite Operators,'' pages A-8 
& C-2 (data current as of June 30, 2005); Warren Communications 
News, Television & Cable Factbook 2006, ``Ownership of Cable Systems 
in the United States,'' pages D-1805 to D-1857.
    \225\ 47 CFR 76.901(c).
    \226\ Warren Communications News, Television & Cable Factbook 
2008, ``U.S. Cable Systems by Subscriber Size,'' page F-2 (data 
current as of Oct. 2007). The data do not include 851 systems for 
which classifying data were not available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    70. Cable System Operators. The Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, also contains a size standard for small cable system 
operators, which is ``a cable operator that, directly or through an 
affiliate, serves in the aggregate fewer than 1 percent of all 
subscribers in the United States and is not affiliated with any 
entity or entities whose gross annual revenues in the aggregate 
exceed $250,000,000.'' \227\ The Commission has determined that an 
operator serving fewer than 677,000 subscribers shall be deemed a 
small operator, if its annual revenues, when combined with the total 
annual revenues of all its affiliates, do not exceed $250 million in 
the aggregate.\228\ Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 cable 
operators nationwide, all but ten are small under this size 
standard.\229\ We note that the Commission neither requests nor 
collects information on whether cable system operators are 
affiliated with entities whose gross annual revenues exceed $250 
million,\230\ and therefore we are unable to estimate more 
accurately the number of cable system operators that would qualify 
as small under this size standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \227\ 47 U.S.C. 543(m)(2); see 47 CFR 76.901(f) & nn. 1-3.
    \228\ 47 CFR 76.901(f); see Public Notice , FCC Announces New 
Subscriber Count for the Definition of Small Cable Operator, DA 01-
158 (Cable Services Bureau, Jan. 24, 2001).
    \229\ These data are derived from: R.R. Bowker, Broadcasting & 
Cable Yearbook 2006, ``Top 25 Cable/Satellite Operators,'' pages A-8 
& C-2 (data current as of June 30, 2005); Warren Communications 
News, Television & Cable Factbook 2006, ``Ownership of Cable Systems 
in the United States,'' pages D-1805 to D-1857.
    \230\ The Commission does receive such information on a case-by-
case basis if a cable operator appeals a local franchise authority's 
finding that the operator does not qualify as a small cable operator 
pursuant to 76.901(f) of the Commission's rules. See 47 CFR 
76.909(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    71. Open Video Systems. The open video system (``OVS'') 
framework was established in 1996, and is one of four statutorily 
recognized options for the provision of video programming services 
by local exchange

[[Page 41955]]

carriers.\231\ The OVS framework provides opportunities for the 
distribution of video programming other than through cable systems. 
Because OVS operators provide subscription services,\232\ OVS falls 
within the SBA small business size standard covering cable services, 
which is ``Wired Telecommunications Carriers.'' \233\ The SBA has 
developed a small business size standard for this category, which 
is: all such firms having 1,500 or fewer employees. To gauge small 
business prevalence for such services we must, however, use current 
census data that are based on the previous category of Cable and 
Other Program Distribution and its associated size standard; that 
size standard was: all such firms having $13.5 million or less in 
annual receipts.\234\ According to Census Bureau data for 2002, 
there were a total of 1,191 firms in this previous category that 
operated for the entire year.\235\ Of this total, 1,087 firms had 
annual receipts of under $10 million, and 43 firms had receipts of 
$10 million or more but less than $25 million.\236\ Thus, the 
majority of cable firms can be considered small. In addition, we 
note that the Commission has certified some OVS operators, with some 
now providing service.\237\ Broadband service providers (``BSPs'') 
are currently the only significant holders of OVS certifications or 
local OVS franchises.\238\ The Commission does not have financial or 
employment information regarding the entities authorized to provide 
OVS, some of which may not yet be operational. Thus, again, at least 
some of the OVS operators may qualify as small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \231\ 47 U.S.C. 571(a)(3)-(4). See Annual Assessment of the 
Status of Competition in the Market for the Delivery of Video 
Programming, Thirteenth Annual Report, 24 FCC Rcd 542, 606 para. 135 
(2009) (``Thirteenth Annual Cable Competition Report'').
    \232\ See 47 U.S.C. 573.
    \233\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517110 Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517110.HTM#N517110.
    \234\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \235\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, Table 4, Receipts Size of Firms for the United States: 
2002, NAICS code 517510 (issued November 2005).
    \236\ Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts of $25 
million or more.
    \237\ A list of OVS certifications may be found at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/ovs/csovscer.html.
    \238\ See Thirteenth Annual Cable Competition Report, 24 FCC Rcd 
at 606-07 para. 135. BSPs are newer firms that are building state-
of-the-art, facilities-based networks to provide video, voice, and 
data services over a single network.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    72. Cable Television Relay Service. This service includes 
transmitters generally used to relay cable programming within cable 
television system distribution systems. This cable service is 
defined within the broad economic census category of Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers; that category is defined as follows: 
``This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in 
operating and/or providing access to transmission facilities and 
infrastructure that they own and/or lease for the transmission of 
voice, data, text, sound, and video using wired telecommunications 
networks. Transmission facilities may be based on a single 
technology or a combination of technologies.'' \239\ The SBA has 
developed a small business size standard for this category, which 
is: all such firms having 1,500 or fewer employees. To gauge small 
business prevalence for cable services we must, however, use current 
census data that are based on the previous category of Cable and 
Other Program Distribution and its associated size standard; that 
size standard was: all such firms having $13.5 million or less in 
annual receipts.\240\ According to Census Bureau data for 2002, 
there were a total of 1,191 firms in this previous category that 
operated for the entire year.\241\ Of this total, 1,087 firms had 
annual receipts of under $10 million, and 43 firms had receipts of 
$10 million or more but less than $25 million.\242\ Thus, the 
majority of these firms can be considered small.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \239\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517110 Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers'' (partial definition); http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517110.HTM#N517110.
    \240\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110.
    \241\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, Table 4, Receipts Size of Firms for the United States: 
2002, NAICS code 517510 (issued November 2005).
    \242\ Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts of $25 
million or more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    73. Multichannel Video Distribution and Data Service. MVDDS is a 
terrestrial fixed microwave service operating in the 12.2-12.7 GHz 
band. The Commission adopted criteria for defining three groups of 
small businesses for purposes of determining their eligibility for 
special provisions such as bidding credits. It defined a very small 
business as an entity with average annual gross revenues not 
exceeding $3 million for the preceding three years; a small business 
as an entity with average annual gross revenues not exceeding $15 
million for the preceding three years; and an entrepreneur as an 
entity with average annual gross revenues not exceeding $40 million 
for the preceding three years.\243\ These definitions were approved 
by the SBA.\244\ On January 27, 2004, the Commission completed an 
auction of 214 MVDDS licenses (Auction No. 53). In this auction, ten 
winning bidders won a total of 192 MVDDS licenses.\245\ Eight of the 
ten winning bidders claimed small business status and won 144 of the 
licenses. The Commission also held an auction of MVDDS licenses on 
December 7, 2005 (Auction 63). Of the three winning bidders who won 
22 licenses, two winning bidders, winning 21 of the licenses, 
claimed small business status.\246\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \243\ Amendment of Parts 2 and 25 of the Commission's Rules to 
Permit Operation of NGSO FSS Systems Co-Frequency with GSO and 
Terrestrial Systems in the Ku-Band Frequency Range; Amendment of the 
Commission's Rules to Authorize Subsidiary Terrestrial Use of the 
12.2-12.7 GHz Band by Direct Broadcast Satellite Licenses and their 
Affiliates; and Applications of Broadwave USA, PDC Broadband 
Corporation, and Satellite Receivers, Ltd. to provide A Fixed 
Service in the 12.2-12.7 GHz Band, ET Docket No. 98-206, Memorandum 
Opinion and Order and Second Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 9614, 
9711, para. 252 (2002).
    \244\ See Letter from Hector V. Barreto, Administrator, U.S. 
Small Business Administration, to Margaret W. Wiener, Chief, 
Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, WTB, FCC (Feb.13, 2002).
    \245\ See ``Multichannel Video Distribution and Data Service 
Auction Closes,'' Public Notice, 19 FCC Rcd 1834 (2004).
    \246\ See ``Auction of Multichannel Video Distribution and Data 
Service Licenses Closes; Winning Bidders Announced for Auction No. 
63,'' Public Notice, 20 FCC Rcd 19807 (2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    74. Amateur Radio Service. These licensees are held by 
individuals in a noncommercial capacity; these licensees are not 
small entities.
    75. Aviation and Marine Services. Small businesses in the 
aviation and marine radio services use a very high frequency 
(``VHF'') marine or aircraft radio and, as appropriate, an emergency 
position-indicating radio beacon (and/or radar) or an emergency 
locator transmitter. The Commission has not developed a small 
business size standard specifically applicable to these small 
businesses. For purposes of this analysis, the Commission uses the 
SBA small business size standard for the category Wireless 
Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite), which is 1,500 or 
fewer employees.\247\ Most applicants for recreational licenses are 
individuals. Approximately 581,000 ship station licensees and 
131,000 aircraft station licensees operate domestically and are not 
subject to the radio carriage requirements of any statute or treaty. 
For purposes of our evaluations in this analysis, we estimate that 
there are up to approximately 712,000 licensees that are small 
businesses (or individuals) under the SBA standard. In addition, 
between December 3, 1998 and December 14, 1998, the Commission held 
an auction of 42 VHF Public Coast licenses in the 157.1875-157.4500 
MHz (ship transmit) and 161.775-162.0125 MHz (coast transmit) bands. 
For purposes of the auction, the Commission defined a ``small'' 
business as an entity that, together with controlling interests and 
affiliates, has average gross revenues for the preceding three years 
not to exceed $15 million dollars. In addition, a ``very small'' 
business is one that, together with controlling interests and 
affiliates, has average gross revenues for the preceding three years 
not to exceed $3 million dollars.\248\ There are approximately 
10,672 licensees in the Marine Coast Service, and the Commission 
estimates that almost all of them qualify as ``small'' businesses 
under the above special small business size standards.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \247\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210.
    \248\ Amendment of the Commission's Rules Concerning Maritime 
Communications, Third Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and 
Order, 13 FCC Rcd 19853 (1998).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    76. Personal Radio Services. Personal radio services provide 
short-range, low power radio for personal communications, radio 
signaling, and business communications not provided for in other 
services. The Personal Radio Services include spectrum licensed 
under Part 95 of our rules.\249\ These services include Citizen Band 
Radio Service (``CB''), General Mobile Radio Service (``GMRS''), 
Radio Control Radio Service (``R/C''), Family Radio Service 
(``FRS''), Wireless Medical Telemetry Service (``WMTS''), Medical 
Implant Communications Service (``MICS''),

[[Page 41956]]

Low Power Radio Service (``LPRS''), and Multi-Use Radio Service 
(``MURS'').\250\ There are a variety of methods used to license the 
spectrum in these rule parts, from licensing by rule, to 
conditioning operation on successful completion of a required test, 
to site-based licensing, to geographic area licensing. Under the 
RFA, the Commission is required to make a determination of which 
small entities are directly affected by the rules being proposed. 
Since all such entities are wireless, we apply the definition of 
Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite), pursuant to 
which a small entity is defined as employing 1,500 or fewer 
persons.\251\ Many of the licensees in these services are 
individuals, and thus are not small entities. In addition, due to 
the mostly unlicensed and shared nature of the spectrum utilized in 
many of these services, the Commission lacks direct information upon 
which to base an estimation of the number of small entities under an 
SBA definition that might be directly affected by our action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \249\ 47 CFR Part 90.
    \250\ The Citizens Band Radio Service, General Mobile Radio 
Service, Radio Control Radio Service, Family Radio Service, Wireless 
Medical Telemetry Service, Medical Implant Communications Service, 
Low Power Radio Service, and Multi-Use Radio Service are governed by 
Subpart D, Subpart A, Subpart C, Subpart B, Subpart H, Subpart I, 
Subpart G, and Subpart J, respectively, of Part 95 of the 
Commission's rules. See generally 47 CFR Part 95.
    \251\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS Code 517210.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    77. Public Safety Radio Services. Public Safety radio services 
include police, fire, local government, forestry conservation, 
highway maintenance, and emergency medical services.\252\ There are 
a total of approximately 127,540 licensees in these services. 
Governmental entities \253\ as well as private businesses comprise 
the licensees for these services. All governmental entities with 
populations of less than 50,000 fall within the definition of a 
small entity.\254\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \252\ With the exception of the special emergency service, these 
services are governed by Subpart B of part 90 of the Commission's 
rules, 47 CFR 90.15-90.27. The police service includes approximately 
27,000 licensees that serve state, county, and municipal enforcement 
through telephony (voice), telegraphy (code) and teletype and 
facsimile (printed material). The fire radio service includes 
approximately 23,000 licensees comprised of private volunteer or 
professional fire companies as well as units under governmental 
control. The local government service that is presently comprised of 
approximately 41,000 licensees that are state, county, or municipal 
entities that use the radio for official purposes not covered by 
other public safety services. There are approximately 7,000 
licensees within the forestry service which is comprised of 
licensees from state departments of conservation and private forest 
organizations who set up communications networks among fire lookout 
towers and ground crews. The approximately 9,000 state and local 
governments are licensed to highway maintenance service provide 
emergency and routine communications to aid other public safety 
services to keep main roads safe for vehicular traffic. The 
approximately 1,000 licensees in the Emergency Medical Radio Service 
(``EMRS'') use the 39 channels allocated to this service for 
emergency medical service communications related to the delivery of 
emergency medical treatment. 47 CFR 90.15-90.27. The approximately 
20,000 licensees in the special emergency service include medical 
services, rescue organizations, veterinarians, handicapped persons, 
disaster relief organizations, school buses, beach patrols, 
establishments in isolated areas, communications standby facilities, 
and emergency repair of public communications facilities. 47 CFR 
90.33-90.55.
    \253\ 47 CFR 1.1162.
    \254\ 5 U.S.C. 601(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    78. Internet Service Providers. The 2007 Economic Census places 
these firms, whose services might include voice over Internet 
protocol (VoIP), in either of two categories, depending on whether 
the service is provided over the provider's own telecommunications 
connections (e.g. cable and DSL, ISPs), or over client-supplied 
telecommunications connections (e.g. dial-up ISPs). The former are 
within the category of Wired Telecommunications Carriers,\255\ which 
has an SBA small business size standard of 1,500 or fewer 
employees.\256\ The latter are within the category of All Other 
Telecommunications,\257\ which has a size standard of annual 
receipts of $25 million or less.\258\ The most current Census Bureau 
data for all such firms, however, are the 2002 data for the previous 
census category called Internet Service Providers.\259\ That 
category had a small business size standard of $21 million or less 
in annual receipts, which was revised in late 2005 to $23 million. 
The 2002 data show that there were 2,529 such firms that operated 
for the entire year.\260\ Of those, 2,437 firms had annual receipts 
of under $10 million, and an additional 47 firms had receipts of 
between $10 million and $24,999,999.\261\ Consequently, we estimate 
that the majority of ISP firms are small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \255\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517110 Wired 
Telecommunications Carriers'', http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517110.HTM#N517110.
    \256\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110 (updated for inflation 
in 2008).
    \257\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, ``517919 All 
Other Telecommunications''; http://www.census.gov/naics/2007/def/ND517919.HTM#N517919.
    \258\ 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517919 (updated for inflation 
in 2008).
    \259\ U.S. Census Bureau, ``2002 NAICS Definitions, ``518111 
Internet Service Providers''; http://www.census.gov/eped/naics02/def/NDEF518.HTM.
    \260\ U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, Subject Series: 
Information, ``Establishment and Firm Size (Including Legal Form of 
Organization),'' Table 4, NAICS code 518111 (issued Nov. 2005).
    \261\ An additional 45 firms had receipts of $25 million or 
more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    79. The ISP industry has changed dramatically since 2002. The 
2002 data cited above may therefore include entities that no longer 
provide Internet access service and may exclude entities that now 
provide such service. To ensure that this (IRFA/FRFA) describes the 
universe of small entities that our action might affect, we discuss 
in turn several different types of entities that might be providing 
Internet access service.
    80. We note that, although we have no specific information on 
the number of small entities that provide Internet access service 
over unlicensed spectrum, we include these entities in our IRFA/
FRFA.

IV. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other 
Compliance Requirements

    81. With certain exceptions, the Commission's Schedule of 
Regulatory Fees applies to all Commission licensees and regulatees. 
Most licensees will be required to count the number of licenses or 
call signs authorized, complete and submit electronically an FCC 
Form 159 Remittance Advice, and pay a regulatory fee based on the 
number of licenses or call signs.\262\ Interstate telephone service 
providers must compute their annual regulatory fee based on their 
interstate and international end-user revenue using information they 
already supply to the Commission in compliance with the Form 499-A, 
Telecommunications Reporting Worksheet, and they must complete and 
submit electronically the FCC Form 159. Compliance with the fee 
schedule will require some licensees to tabulate the number of units 
(e.g., cellular telephones, pagers, cable TV subscribers) they have 
in service when they complete electronically and submit the FCC Form 
159. Licensees ordinarily will keep a list of the number of units 
they have in service as part of their normal business practices. No 
additional outside professional skills are required to complete the 
electronic FCC Form 159, and it can be completed by the employees 
responsible for an entity's business records.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \262\ See 47 CFR 1.1162 for the general exemptions from 
regulatory fees. E.g., Amateur radio licensees (except applicants 
for vanity call signs) and operators in other non-licensed services 
(e.g., Personal Radio, part 15, ship and aircraft). Governments and 
non-profit (exempt under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 
Code) entities are exempt from payment of regulatory fees and need 
not submit payment. Non-commercial educational broadcast licensees 
are exempt from regulatory fees as are licensees of auxiliary 
broadcast services such as low power auxiliary stations, television 
auxiliary service stations, remote pickup stations and aural 
broadcast auxiliary stations where such licenses are used in 
conjunction with commonly owned non-commercial educational stations. 
Emergency Alert System licenses for auxiliary service facilities are 
also exempt as are instructional television fixed service licensees. 
Regulatory fees are automatically waived for the licensee of any 
translator station that: (1) Is not licensed to, in whole or in 
part, and does not have common ownership with, the licensee of a 
commercial broadcast station; (2) does not derive income from 
advertising; and (3) is dependent on subscriptions or contributions 
from members of the community served for support. Receive only earth 
station permittees are exempt from payment of regulatory fees. A 
regulatee will be relieved of its fee payment requirement if its 
total fee due, including all categories of fees for which payment is 
due by the entity, amounts to less than $10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    82. As discussed previously in this Order, the Commission 
concluded in its FY 2009 regulatory fee cycle that licensees filing 
their annual regulatory fee payments must begin the process by 
entering the Commission's Fee Filer system with a valid FRN and 
password. In some instances, it will be necessary to use a specific 
FRN and password that is linked to a particular regulatory fee bill. 
Going forward, the submission of hardcopy Form 159 documents will 
not be permitted for making a regulatory fee payment during the 
regulatory fee cycle. By requiring licensees to use Fee Filer to 
begin the regulatory fee payment process, errors resulting from 
illegible handwriting on hardcopy Form 159's will be reduced, and we 
will create an electronic record of licensee payment attributes that 
are more easily traced than

[[Page 41957]]

those payments that are simply mailed in with a hardcopy Form 159.
    83. Licensees and regulatees are advised that failure to submit 
the required regulatory fee in a timely manner will subject the 
licensee or regulatee to a late payment penalty of 25 percent in 
addition to the required fee.\263\ If payment is not received, new 
or pending applications may be dismissed, and existing 
authorizations may be subject to rescission.\264\ Further, in 
accordance with the DCIA, federal agencies may bar a person or 
entity from obtaining a federal loan or loan insurance guarantee if 
that person or entity fails to pay a delinquent debt owed to any 
federal agency.\265\ Nonpayment of regulatory fees is a debt owed to 
the United States pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3711 et seq., and the DCIA. 
Appropriate enforcement measures, as well as administrative and 
judicial remedies, may be exercised by the Commission. Debts owed to 
the Commission may result in a person or entity being denied a 
federal loan or loan guarantee pending before another federal agency 
until such obligations are paid.\266\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \263\ 47 CFR 1.1164.
    \264\ 47 CFR 1.1164(c).
    \265\ Public Law 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996).
    \266\ 31 U.S.C. 7701(c)(2)(B).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    84. The Commission's rules currently provide for relief in 
exceptional circumstances. Persons or entities may request a waiver, 
reduction or deferment of payment of the regulatory fee.\267\ 
However, timely submission of the required regulatory fee must 
accompany requests for waivers or reductions. This will avoid any 
late payment penalty if the request is denied. The fee will be 
refunded if the request is granted. In exceptional and compelling 
instances (e.g. where payment of the regulatory fee along with the 
waiver or reduction request could result in reduction of service to 
a community or other financial hardship to the licensee), the 
Commission will defer payment in response to a request filed with 
the appropriate supporting documentation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \267\ 47 CFR 1.1166.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered

    85. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant 
alternatives that it has considered in reaching its approach, which 
may include the following four alternatives, among others: (1) The 
establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or 
timetables that take into account the resources available to small 
entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of 
compliance or reporting requirements under the rule for small 
entities; (3) the use of performance, rather than design, standards; 
and (4) an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, 
for small entities.\268\ In our NPRM, we sought comment on 
alternatives that might simplify our fee procedures or otherwise 
benefit filers, including small entities, while remaining consistent 
with our statutory responsibilities in this proceeding. We received 
no comments specifically in response to the IRFA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \268\ 5 U.S.C. 603.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    86. Several categories of licensees and regulatees are exempt 
from payment of regulatory fees. Also, waiver procedures provide 
regulatees, including small entity regulatees, relief in exceptional 
circumstances. We note that small entities should be assisted by our 
implementation of the Fee Filer program, and that we have continued 
our practice of exempting fees whose total sum owed is less than 
$10.00.

VI. Report to Congress

    87. The Commission will send a copy of this Report and Order, 
including this FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress and the 
Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional 
Review Act.\269\ In addition, the Commission will send a copy of 
this Report and Order, including the FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. A copy of this Report 
and Order and FRFA (or summaries thereof) will also be published in 
the Federal Register.\270\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \269\ See 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A). The Congressional Review Act is 
contained in Title II, 251, of the CWAAA; see Public Law 104-121, 
Title II, 251, 110 Stat. 868.
    \270\  See 5 U.S.C. 604(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX G

FY 2009 Schedule of Regulatory Fees

    Regulatory fees for the categories shaded in gray are collected by 
the Commission in advance to cover the term of the license and are 
submitted along with the application at the time the application is 
filed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Annual regulatory  fee (U.S.
             Fee category                             $'s)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLMRS (per license) (Exclusive Use)     40.
 (47 CFR part 90).
Microwave (per license) (47 CFR part    30.
 101).
218-219 MHz (Formerly Interactive       65.
 Video Data Service) (per license) (47
 CFR part 95).
Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR     10.
 part 80).
Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR    45.
 part 80).
General Mobile Radio Service (per       5.
 license) (47 CFR part 95).
Rural Radio (47 CFR part 22)            20.
 (previously listed under the Land
 Mobile category).
PLMRS (Shared Use) (per license) (47    20.
 CFR part 90).
Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47   5.
 CFR part 87).
Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47     10.
 CFR part 87).
Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call     1.34.
 sign) (47 CFR part 97).
CMRS Mobile/Cellular Services (per      .18.
 unit) (47 CFR parts 20, 22, 24, 27,
 80 and 90).
CMRS Messaging Services (per unit) (47  .08.
 CFR parts 20, 22, 24 and 90).
Broadband Radio Service (formerly MMDS/ 320.
 MDS) (per license) (47 CFR part 21).
Local Multipoint Distribution Service   320.
 (per call sign) (47 CFR, part 101).
AM Radio Construction Permits.........  400.
FM Radio Construction Permits.........  650.
TV (47 CFR part 73) VHF Commercial
    Markets 1-10......................  77,575.
    Markets 11-25.....................  60,550.
    Markets 26-50.....................  37,575.
    Markets 51-100....................  22,950.
    Remaining Markets.................  5,950.
    Construction Permits..............  5,950.
TV (47 CFR part 73) UHF Commercial
    Markets 1-10......................  24,250.
    Markets 11-25.....................  21,525.
    Markets 26-50.....................  13,350.
    Markets 51-100....................  7,600.
    Remaining Markets.................  1,950.
    Construction Permits..............  1,950.
Satellite Television Stations (All      1,275.
 Markets).

[[Page 41958]]

 
Construction Permits--Satellite         650.
 Television Stations.
Low Power TV, Class A TV, TV/FM         400.
 Translators & Boosters (47 CFR part
 74).
Broadcast Auxiliaries (47 CFR part 74)  10.
CARS (47 CFR part 78).................  260.
Cable Television Systems (per           .88.
 subscriber) (47 CFR part 76).
Interstate Telecommunication Service    .00342.
 Providers (per revenue dollar).
Earth Stations (47 CFR part 25).......  210.
Space Stations (per operational         127,175.
 station in geostationary orbit) (47
 CFR part 25) also includes DBS
 Service (per operational station) (47
 CFR part 100).
Space Stations (per operational system  137,225.
 in non-geostationary orbit) (47 CFR
 part 25).
International Bearer Circuits--         .75.
 Terrestrial/Satellites (per 64KB
 circuit).
International Bearer Circuits--         See Table Below.
 Submarine Cable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


FY 2009 Schedule of Regulatory Fees (continued)
 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                           FM Classes A,   FM Classes B,
                    Population served                       AM Class A      AM Class B      AM Class C      AM Class D        B1 & C3     C, C0, C1 & C2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
< = 25,000..............................................            $675            $550            $500            $575            $650            $825
25,001-75,000...........................................           1,350           1,075             750             875           1,325           1,450
75,001-150,000..........................................           2,025           1,350           1,000           1,450           1,825           2,725
150,001-500,000.........................................           3,050           2,300           1,500           1,725           2,800           3,550
500,001-1,200,000.......................................           4,400           3,500           2,500           2,875           4,450           5,225
1,200,001-3,000,00......................................           6,750           5,400           3,750           4,600           7,250           8,350
>3,000,000..............................................           8,100           6,475           4,750           5,750           9,250          10,850
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


FY 2009 Schedule of Regulatory Fees
International Bearer Circuits--Submarine Cable
 


------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Submarine cable systems
  (capacity as of December 31,     Fee amount            Address
             2008)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
< 2.5 Gbps.....................         $15,075  FCC, International,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
2.5 Gbps or greater, but less            30,125  FCC, International,
 than 5 Gbps.                                     P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
5 Gbps or greater, but less              60,250  FCC, International,
 than 10 Gbps.                                    P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
10 Gbps or greater, but less            120,525  FCC, International,
 than 20 Gbps.                                    P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
20 Gbps or greater.............         241,025  FCC, International,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

APPENDIX H

Rule Changes

0
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal Communications 
Commission amends 47 CFR part 1 as follows:

PART 1--PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

0
1. The authority citation for part 1 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 154(j), 
155, 157, 225, 303(r), 309.


0
2. Section 1.1152 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1.1152  Schedule of annual regulatory fees and filing locations 
for wireless radio services.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Exclusive use services (per
           license)             Fee amount \1\                               Address
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Land Mobile (Above 470 MHz
 and 220 MHz Local, Base
 Station & SMRS) (47 CFR, Part
 90)
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC             $40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                   40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     40.00  FCC; P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
220 MHz Nationwide
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC              40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                   40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     40.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
2. Microwave (47 CFR Pt. 101)
 (Private)
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC              25.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                   25.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            25.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).

[[Page 41959]]

 
    (d) Renewal Only                     25.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
3. 218-219 MHz Service
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC              65.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                   65.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            65.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     65.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
4. Shared Use Services
Land Mobile (Frequencies Below
 470 MHz--except 220 MHz)
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC              20.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                   20.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            20.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     20.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
General Mobile Radio Service
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC               5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     605 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                    5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 605             5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                      5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
Rural Radio (Part 22)
    (a) New, Additional                  20.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO, 63197-9000.
     Facility, Major Renew/Mod
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (b) Renewal, Minor Renew/            20.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     Mod (Electronic Filing)
     (FCC 601 & 159).
Marine Coast
    (a) New Renewal/Mod (FCC             45.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renewal/Mod                 45.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            45.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     45.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
Aviation Ground
    (a) New, Renewal/Mod (FCC            10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     601 & 159).
    (b) New, Renewal/Mod                 10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     601 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 601            10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Only) (FCC
     601 & 159).
Marine Ship
    (a) New, Renewal/Mod (FCC            10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     605 & 159).
    (b) New, Renewal/Mod                 10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 605            10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                     10.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
Aviation Aircraft
    (a) New, Renew/Mod (FCC               5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     605 & 159).
    (b) New, Renew/Mod                    5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
    (c) Renewal Only (FCC 605             5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     & 159).
    (d) Renewal Only                      5.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
5. Amateur Vanity Call Signs
    (a) Initial or Renew (FCC             1.33  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     605 & 159).
    (b) Initial or Renew                  1.33  FCC, P.O. Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
     (Electronic Filing) (FCC
     605 & 159).
6. CMRS Cellular/Mobile
 Services (per unit)
    (FCC 159).................         .18 \2\  FCC, P.O. Box 979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
7. CMRS Messaging Services
 (per unit)
    (FCC 159).................         .08 \3\  FCC, P.O. Box 979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
8. Broadband Radio Service                 310  FCC, P.O. Box 979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
 (formerly MMDS and MDS).
9. Local Multipoint                        310  FCC, P.O. Box 979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.
 Distribution Service.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Note that ``small fees'' are collected in advance for the entire license term. Therefore, the annual fee
  amount shown in this table that is a small fee (categories 1 through 5) must be multiplied by the 5- or 10-
  year license term, as appropriate, to arrive at the total amount of regulatory fees owed. It should be further
  noted that application fees may also apply as detailed in 1.1102.
\2\ These are standard fees that are to be paid in accordance with 1.1157(b).
\3\ These are standard fees that are to be paid in accordance with 1.1157(b).


0
3. Section 1.1153 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1.1153  Schedule of annual regulatory fees and filing locations 
for mass media services.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio [AM and FM] (47 CFR, Part
              73)                  Fee amount            Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. AM Class A:
    <=25,000 population........            $675  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
    25,001-75,000 population...           1,350
    75,001-150,000 population..           2,025
    150,001-500,000 population.           3,050
    500,001-1,200,000                     4,400
     population.
    1,200,001-3,000,000                   6,750
     population.
    >3,000,000 population......           8,100
2. AM Class B:

[[Page 41960]]

 
    <=25,000 population........             550  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
    25,001-75,000 population...           1,075
    75,001-150,000 population..           1,350
    150,001-500,000 population.           2,300
    500,001-1,200,000                     3,500
     population.
    1,200,001-3,000,000                   5,400
     population.
    >3,000,000 population......           6,475
3. AM Class C:
    <=25,000 population........             500  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
    25,001-75,000 population...             750
    75,001-150,000 population..           1,000
    150,001-500,000 population.           1,500
    500,001-1,200,000                     2,500
     population.
    1,200,001-3,000,000                   3,750
     population.
    >3,000,000 population......           4,750
4. AM Class D:
    <=25,000 population........             575  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
    25,001-75,000 population...             875
    75,001-150,000 population..           1,450
    150,001-500,000 population.           1,725
    500,001-1,200,000                     2,875
     population.
    1,200,001-3,000,000                   4,600
     population.
    >3,000,000 population......           5,750
5. AM Construction Permit......             390  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
6. FM Classes A, B1 and C3:
    <=25,000 population........             650  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
    25,001-75,000 population...           1,325
    75,001-150,000 population..           1,825
    150,001-500,000 population.           2,800
    500,001-1,200,000                     4,450
     population.
    1,200,001-3,000,000                   7,250
     population.
    >3,000,000 population......           9,250
7. FM Classes B, C, C0, C1 and
 C2:
    <=25,000 population........             825  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
    25,001-75,000 population...           1,450
    75,001-150,000 population..           2,725
    150,001-500,000 population.           3,550
    500,001-1,200,000                     5,225
     population.
    1,200,001-3,000,000                   8,350
     population.
    >3,000,000 population......          10,850
8. FM Construction Permits.....             675  FCC, Radio, P.O. Box
                                                  979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000.
TV (47 CFR, Part 73)
VHF Commercial:
    1. Markets 1 thru 10.......          81,550  FCC, TV Branch, P.O.
                                                  Box 979084, St. Louis,
                                                  MO 63197-9000.
    2. Markets 11 thru 25......          63,275
    3. Markets 26 thru 50......          42,550
    4. Markets 51 thru 100.....          23,750
    5. Remaining Markets.......           6,125
    6. Construction Permits....           6,125
UHF Commercial:
    1. Markets 1 thru 10.......          32,275  FCC, UHF Commercial,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
    2. Markets 11 thru 25......          30,075
    3. Markets 26 thru 50......          18,900
    4. Markets 51 thru 100.....          11,550
    5. Remaining Markets.......           3,050
    6. Construction Permits....           3,050
Satellite UHF/VHF Commercial:
    1. All Markets.............           1,300  FCC Satellite TV, P.O.
                                                  Box 979084, St. Louis,
                                                  MO 63197-9000.
    2. Construction Permits....             675
Low Power TV, Class A TV, TV/FM             415  FCC, Low Power, P.O.
 Translator, & TV/FM Booster                      Box 979084, St. Louis,
 (47 CFR Part 74).                                MO 63197-9000.
Broadcast Auxiliary............              10  FCC, Auxiliary, P.O.
                                                  Box 979084, St. Louis,
                                                  MO 63197-9000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 41961]]


0
4. Section 1.1154 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1.1154  Schedule of annual regulatory charges and filing 
locations for common carrier services.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Radio facilities            Fee amount            Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
    1. Microwave (Domestic               $25.00  FCC, P.O. Box 979097,
     Public Fixed) (Electronic                    St. Louis, MO 63197-
     Filing) (FCC Form 601 &                      9000
     159).
Carriers
    1. Interstate Telephone              .00349  FCC, Carriers, P.O. Box
     Service Providers (per                       979084, St. Louis, MO
     interstate and                               63197-9000
     international end-user
     revenues (see FCC Form 499-
     A).
------------------------------------------------------------------------


0
5. Section 1.1155 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1.1155  Schedule of regulatory fees and filing locations for 
cable television services.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Fee amount            Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Cable Television Relay                  $315  FCC, Cable, P.O. Box
 Service.                                         979084, St. Louis, MO
                                                  63197-9000
2. Cable TV System (per                     .89
 subscriber).
------------------------------------------------------------------------


0
6. Section 1.1156 is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  1.1156  Schedule of regulatory fees and filing locations for 
international services.

    (a) The following schedule applies for the listed services:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Fee category             Fee amount            Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space Stations (Geostationary          $127,925  FCC, International,
 Orbit).                                          P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
Space Stations (Non-                    138,050  FCC, International,
 Geostationary Orbit).                            P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
Earth Stations: Transmit/                   240  FCC, International,
 Receive & Transmit only (per                     P.O. Box 979084, St.
 authorization or registration).                  Louis, MO 63197-9000
------------------------------------------------------------------------

     (b)(1) International Terrestrial and Satellite. Regulatory fees 
for International Bearer Circuits are to be paid by facilities-based 
common carriers that have active (used or leased) international bearer 
circuits as of December 31, of the prior year in any terrestrial or 
satellite transmission facility for the provision of service to an end 
user or resale carrier, which includes active circuits to themselves or 
to their affiliates. In addition, non-common carrier satellite 
operators must pay a fee for each circuit sold or leased to any 
customer, including themselves or their affiliates, other than an 
international common carrier authorized by the Commission to provide 
U.S. international common carrier services. ``Active circuits'' for 
these purposes include backup and redundant circuits. In addition, 
whether circuits are used specifically for voice or data is not 
relevant in determining that they are active circuits.
    (2) The fee amount, per active 64 KB circuit or equivalent will be 
determined for each fiscal year. Payment, if mailed, shall be sent to: 
FCC, International, P.O. Box 979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  International terrestrial
 and satellite  (capacity as       Fee amount              Address
    of December 31, 2009)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Terrestrial Common Carrier..  $0.39 per 64 KB       FCC, International,
Satellite Common Carrier....   Circuit.              P.O. Box 979084,
Satellite Non-Common Carrier                         St. Louis, MO 63197-
                                                     9000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

     (c) Submarine cable: Regulatory fees for submarine cable systems 
will be paid annually, per cable landing license, for all submarine 
cable systems operating as of December 31 of the prior year. The fee 
amount will be determined by the Commission for each fiscal year. 
Payment, if mailed, shall be sent to: FCC, International, P.O. Box 
979084, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Submarine cable systems
 (capacity as of Dec. 31, 2009)    Fee amount            Address
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<2.5 Gbps......................         $14,625  FCC, International,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
2.5 Gbps or greater, but less           $29,250  FCC, International,
 than 5 Gbps.                                     P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
5 Gbps or greater, but less             $58,500  FCC, International,
 than 10 Gbps.                                    P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.

[[Page 41962]]

 
10 Gbps or greater, but less           $116,975  FCC, International,
 than 20 Gbps.                                    P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
20 Gbps or greater.............        $233,950  FCC, International,
                                                  P.O. Box 979084, St.
                                                  Louis, MO 63197-9000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 2010-17331 Filed 7-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P