Satellite Sector Continues Call for Regulatory Fee Phase-In

Satellite operators continue urging the FCC to phase-in any regulatory fee hike stemming from the Space Bureau's creation. Docket 24-86 reply comments this week also saw CTIA pushing back on broadcasters' arguments that favor charging regulatory fees for equipment authorizations. Previously, the space community and broadcasters raised concerns about regulatory fee shock in initial comments in the proceeding (see 2407160049).

The FCC's average year-over-year increase in costs allocated to each core bureau was 7.32% over the past decade and never more than 25%, the Satellite Industry Association noted. It said a phase-in of Space Bureau-related fees would keep rate changes "within historic levels." However, depending on which fee structure the FCC adopts for FY 2024, Space Bureau fee payers could see increases from 86% to as much as 300% versus last year, it said. Kepler said a five-year phase-in with capped annual percentage adjustments "would allow operators to better manage their financial planning and mitigate the immediate impact of the unexpected fee hikes."

Facing what it said is nearly a 240% jump in regulatory fees, Orbital Sidekick said it and other "less complex" non-geostationary orbit system operators don't warrant the level of regulatory oversight that would justify such a hike. In addition, fees in the "less complex" category are out of sync with other NGSO fee payers, it added. Orbital said a large NGSO fee hike would likely stifle new and small operators from entering the market.

The FY 2024 regulatory fee proceeding has seen broad support for a methodology that puts more regulatory fee costs on satellite operators that place the largest burdens on FCC staff, Iridium said. It urged the agency to move expeditiously on a Further NPRM that allows for comment on a specific proposal to implement that methodology. Iridium said revising the split between geostationary and NGSO operators from 80/20 to 60/40 for FY 2024 would be "unnecessarily disruptive." It also called for a phase-in.

The broadcast industry, pushing for a broad annual review of indirect full-time equivalent work, is making the same argument the FCC previously rejected, and the agency should do so again, said CTIA. It also urged the FCC not to reverse its policy of excluding equipment authorizations from regulatory fees.

TechFreedom said the proceeding, as in recent years, sees the FCC "float[ing] a trial balloon" about broadening the array of regulatory fee payers. The agency "is not free to adopt 'new regulatory fee categories' that would apply to entities over which the FCC has no authority," TechFreedom said.