Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 24213 

Commodity Parts per million 

Beet, sugar, roots ........... 0.05 

Beet, sugar, tops ............ 0.20 

Berry, group 13 ............... 0.8 

Brassica, head and stem, 

subgroup 5A ................ 2.00 

Brassica, leafy greens, 

subgroup 5B ................ 14.00 

Cabbage ......................... 2.00 

Cattle, fat ........................ 1.00 

Cattle, meat .................... 0.2 

Cattle, meat byproducts 0.05 

Cilantro, leaves ............... 10 

Corn, field, forage ........... 0.20 

Corn, field, grain ............. 0.05 

Corn, field, stover ........... 3.00 

Corn, pop, grain .............. 0.05 

Corn, pop, stover ............ 3.00 

Corn, sweet, forage ........ 15.00 

Corn, sweet, kernel plus 

cob with husks removed ......................... 0.05 

Corn, sweet, stover ........ 15.00 

Cotton, undelinted seed 0.5 

Egg ................................. 0.05 

Food/feed items (other 

than those covered by 

a higher tolerance as a 

result of use on growing crops) in food/feed 

handling establishments .......................... 0.05 

Commodity Parts per million 

Fruit, pome, group 11 ..... 2 

Fruit, stone, group 12 ..... 1 

Goat, fat .......................... 1.00 

Goat, meat ...................... 0.2 

Goat, meat byproducts ... 0.05 

Grain, aspirated fractions 10.0 

Grape .............................. 2 

Grass, forage, group 17 10 

Grass, hay, group 17 ...... 35 

Hog, fat ........................... 0.1 

Hog, meat ....................... 0.05 

Horse, fat ........................ 1.00 

Horse, meat .................... 0.2 

Horse, meat byproducts 0.05 

Milk, fat (reflecting 0.10 

in whole milk) .............. 2.50 

Nut, tree, group 14 ......... 0.05 

Onion, bulb ..................... 0.10 

Onion, green ................... 3.00 

Pea and bean, dried 

shelled, except soybean, subgroup 6C ..... 0.05 

Pea and bean, succulent 

shelled, subgroup 6B .. 0.1 

Peanut ............................ 0.05 

Pecan .............................. 0.05 

Poultry, fat ...................... 0.05 

Poultry, meat .................. 0.05 

Rapeseed ....................... 0.2 

Rice, grain ...................... 1.50 

Rice, hulls ....................... 6.00 

Commodity Parts per million 

Rice, straw ...................... 2.00 

Sheep, fat ....................... 1.00 

Sheep, meat ................... 0.2 

Sheep, meat byproducts 0.05 

Sorghum, grain, forage ... 0.1 

Sorghum, grain, grain ..... 0.5 

Sorghum, grain, stover ... 5.0 

Soybean, seed ................ 0.05 

Sugarcane, cane ............ 0.60 

Sunflower ........................ 0.2 

Sunflower, refined oil ...... 0.5 

Turnip, greens ................ 14 

Vegetable, cucurbit, 

group 9 ........................ 0.2 

Vegetable, fruiting, group 

8 .................................. 0.2 

Vegetable, leafy, except 

brassica, group 4 ........ 10.00 

Vegetable, legume, edible podded, subgroup 

6A ................................ 0.5 

Vegetable, root and 

tuber, group 1, except 

sugar beet ................... 0.1 

Wheat, forage ................. 3.0 

Wheat, grain ................... 0.2 

Wheat, hay ..................... 6.0 

Wheat, straw ................... 7.0 

(b) * * * 

Commodity Parts per million Expiration/Revocation Date 

Flax, meal .................................................................................................................................................... 0.2 6/30/2008 

Flax, seed .................................................................................................................................................... 0.2 6/30/2008 

* * * * * 

§ 180.489 [Removed] 

12. Section 180.489 is removed. 

[FR Doc. E7–8373 Filed 5–1–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–S 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 1 

[MD Docket No. 07–81; FCC 07–55] 

Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees For Fiscal Year 2007 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: The Commission will revise 

its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order 

to recover the amount of regulatory fees 

that Congress has required it to collect 

for fiscal year 2007. Section 9 of the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, provides for the annual 

assessment and collection of regulatory 

fees under sections 9(b)(2) and 9(b)(3), 

respectively, for annual ‘‘Mandatory 

Adjustments’’ and ‘‘Permitted 

Amendments’’ to the Schedule of 

Regulatory Fees. 

DATES: Comments are due May 3, 2007, 

and reply comments are due May 11, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by MD Docket No. 07–81, by 

any of the following methods: 

<bullet≤ Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

<bullet≤ Federal Communications 

Commission’s Web site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

<bullet≤ E-mail: ecfs@fcc.gov. Include 

MD Docket No. 07–81 in the subject line 

of the message. 

<bullet≤ Mail: 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 should be addressed to 445 12th 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Roland Helvajian, Office of Managing 

Director at (202) 418–0444 or Rob 

Fream, Office of Managing Director at 

(202) 418–0408. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Adopted: April 16, 2007. 

Released: April 18, 2007. 

By the Commission: 

Table of Contents 

Heading Paragraph 

number 

I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 

II. Discussion .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 

A. FY 2007 Regulatory Fee Assessment Methodology .......................................................................................................... 4 

1. Development of FY 2007 Regulatory Fees ........................................................................................................... 4 

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24214 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

1 47 U.S.C. 159(a). 

2 The percentage decrease of approximately 2.84 

percent is based on the total amount of regulatory 

fees that was mandated by Congress to be collected 

in FY 2006, which included an amount of 

Heading Paragraph 

number 

a. Calculation of Revenue and Fee Requirements ..................................................................................... 4 

b. Additional Adjustments to Payment Units ........................................................................................... 5 

2. Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Messaging Service ......................................................................... 7 

3. Broadband Radio Service (BRS)/Educational Broadband Service (EBS) ........................................................... 8 

4. International Bearer Circuits ................................................................................................................................. 9 

5. Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol Service Providers ......................................................................... 10 

B. Administrative and Operational Issues .............................................................................................................................. 11 

1. Use of Fee Filer ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 

2. Proposals for Notification and Collection of Regulatory Fees ............................................................................ 13 

a. Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSPs) ................................................................... 15

b. Satellite Space Station Licensees ........................................................................................................... 17 

c. Additional Service Categories for Billing .............................................................................................. 19 

d. Media Services Licensees ....................................................................................................................... 20 

e. Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Cellular and Mobile Services Assessments ................... 23 

f. Cable Television Subscribers .................................................................................................................. 28 

3. Streamlined Regulatory Fee Payment Process for Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Cellular and 

Mobile Providers .................................................................................................................................................... 30 

4. Future Streamlining of the Regulatory Fee Assessment and Collection Process .............................................. 32 

III. Procedural Matters ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33 

A. Payment of Regulatory Fees ............................................................................................................................................... 33 

1. De Minimis Fee Payment Liability ....................................................................................................................... 33 

2. Standard Fee Calculations and Payment Dates ................................................................................................... 34 

B. Enforcement ......................................................................................................................................................................... 35 

C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 37 

D. Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis ........................................................................................................... 38 

E. Ex Parte Rules ...................................................................................................................................................................... 39 

F. Filing Requirements ............................................................................................................................................................ 40 

IV. Ordering Clauses .............................................................................................................................................................................. 45 

Attachments: 

Attachment A Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Attachment B Sources of Payment Unit Estimates for FY 2007 

Attachment C Calculation of Revenue Requirements and Pro-Rata Fees 

Attachment D Proposed FY 2007 Schedule of Regulatory Fees 

Attachment E Factors, Measurements, and Calculations that Determine Station Contours and Population Coverages 

Attachment F FY 2006 Schedule of Regulatory Fees 

I. Introduction 

1. In this Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking (NPRM), we propose to 

collect $290,295,160 in regulatory fees 

for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, 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.1

II. Discussion 

2. In this NPRM, we seek comment on 

the development of FY 2007 regulatory 

fees collected pursuant to section 9 of 

the Act. For FY 2007, we tentatively 

propose to retain the established 

methods and policies that the 

Commission has used to collect section 

9 regulatory fees since FY 2003. In 

addition to seeking comment on the 

assessment methodology, the 

Commission typically seeks comment 

on various administrative and 

operational issues affecting the 

collection of regulatory fees. For the FY 

2007 regulatory fee cycle, we propose to 

retain the vast majority of the 

administrative measures used for 

notification, assessment and pre-billing 

of regulatory fees in previous years, 

such as generating pre-completed 

regulatory fee assessment forms for 

certain regulatees. Consistent with past 

practice, we seek comment on ways to 

improve the Commission’s 

administrative processes for notifying 

entities of their regulatory fee 

obligations and collecting their 

payments. Finally, we seek comment on 

applying the same regulatory fee 

obligations applicable to interstate 

telecommunications providers to 

providers of interconnected voice over 

Internet Protocol services. 

3. The Commission is obligated to 

collect $290,295,160 in regulatory fees 

during FY 2007 to fund the 

Commission’s operations. Consistent 

with our established practice, we intend 

to collect these regulatory fees in the 

August–September 2007 time frame in 

order to collect the required amount by 

the end of the fiscal year. 

A. FY 2007 Regulatory Fee Assessment 

Methodology 

1. Development of FY 2007 Regulatory 

Fees 

a. Calculation of Revenue and Fee 

Requirements 

4. For our FY 2007 regulatory fee 

assessment, we propose to use 

essentially the same section 9 regulatory 

fee assessment methodology adopted for 

FY 2006. Each fiscal year, the 

Commission proportionally allocates the 

total amount that must be collected via 

section 9 regulatory fees. The results of 

our proposed FY 2007 regulatory fee 

assessment methodology (including a 

comparison to the prior year’s results) 

are contained in Appendix C. For FY 

2007, we propose to use the receipts 

collected through the FY 2006 

regulatory fees as the basis for 

calculating the amount the Commission 

must collect in FY 2007. To collect the 

$290,295,160 required by law, we 

propose to adjust the FY 2006 amount 

downward by approximately 2.84 

percent.2 Consistent with past practice, 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 24215 

$288,771,000 in regulatory fees pursuant to section 

9 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 

and an additional $10,000,000 as required by 

section 3013 of the Deficit Reduction Act (Public 

Law 109–171). Together, the total amount of 

regulatory fees mandated by Congress to be 

collected in FY 2006 was $298,771,000. Also, the 

decrease in regulatory fee payments of 

approximately 2.84 percent in FY 2007 is reflected 

in the revenue that is expected to be collected from 

each service category. Because this expected 

revenue is adjusted each year by the number of 

estimated payment units in a service category, and 

then adjusted for rounding, the actual fee will likely 

differ by an amount more or less than 2.84 percent. 

For example, in industries where the number of 

payment units is declining, the per-unit regulatory 

fee amount for FY 2007 may actually be more than 

the amount for FY 2006. 

3 In many instances, the regulatory fee amount is 

a flat fee per licensee or regulatee. However, in 

some instances the fee amount represents a per-unit 

fee (such as for International Bearer Circuits), a perunit 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 

fee). The payment unit is the measure upon which 

the fee is based, such as a licensee, regulatee, 

subscriber fee, etc. 

4 The databases we consulted include, but are not 

limited to, 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 industry sources including, but 

not limited to, Television & Cable Factbook by 

Warren Publishing, Inc. and the Broadcasting and 

Cable Yearbook by Reed Elsevier, Inc., 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 and Annual CMRS Competition 

Report. For additional information on source 

material, see Attachment B. 

5 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 in 

that respective service category. For example, the 

regulatory fee for a Construction Permit for an AM 

radio station will never be more than the regulatory 

fee for an AM Class C radio station serving a 

population of less than 25,000. 

6 See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory 

Fees for Fiscal Year 2003, MD Docket No. 03–83, 

Report and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 15985, 15992, para. 

21 (2003). 

7 The 40.8 million number represents a unit 

estimate from Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1997, MD Docket 

No. 96–186, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 17161 

(1997), and the 8.3 million figure represents the 

number of paid units as of fiscal year end 2006. 

8 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, Order on 

Reconsideration and Fifth Memorandum Opinion 

and Order and Third Memorandum Opinion and 

Order and Second Report and Order, 21 FCC Rcd 

5606, 5756–5759, paras. 367–376 (2006) (BRS/EBS 

Second Report and Order). 

9 For BRS licensees that are licensed by 

geographic licensed service area (GSA), the BTA is 

the geographic center point of where its GSA is 

located. 

10 BRS/EBS Second Report and Order, 21 FCC 

Rcd 5759, para. 376. (Generally, BTAs ranked 1–60 

have a population greater than 1 million, BTAs 

ranked 61–200 have a population 250,000 to 1 

million, and BTAs ranked 201–493 have a 

population of less than 250,000.) 

11 See Petition for Rulemaking of VSNL 

Telecommunications (US) Inc., RM–11312 (filed 

Feb. 6, 2006) (VSNL Petition). 

we propose to divide the FY 2007 

amount by the number of payment units 

in each fee category to determine the 

unit fee.3 As in prior years, for cases 

involving small fees (e.g., licenses that 

are renewed over a multiyear term), we 

propose to divide the resulting unit fee 

by the term of the license. We propose 

to round these unit fees consistent with 

the requirements of section 9(b)(2). 

b. Additional Adjustments to Payment 

Units 

5. In calculating the FY 2007 

regulatory fees proposed in Attachment 

D, we further adjusted the FY 2006 list 

of payment units (Attachment B) based 

upon licensee databases and industry 

and trade group projections. Whenever 

possible, we verified these estimates 

from multiple sources to ensure the 

accuracy of these estimates. In some 

instances, Commission licensee 

databases were used, while in other 

instances, actual prior year payment 

records and/or industry and trade 

association projections were used in 

determining the payment unit counts.4

Where appropriate, we adjusted and/or 

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/ 

or exemptions that may be filed in FY 

2007, and fluctuations in the number of 

licensees or station operators due to 

economic, technical, or other reasons. 

Therefore, when we state that our 

estimated FY 2007 payment units are 

based on FY 2006 actual payment units, 

the number may have been rounded or 

adjusted slightly to account for these 

variables. 

6. Additional factors are considered in 

determining regulatory fees for AM and 

FM radio stations. These factors are 

facility attributes and the population 

served by the radio station. The 

calculation of the population served is 

determined by coupling current U.S. 

Census Bureau data with technical and 

engineering data, as detailed in 

Attachment E. Consequently, the 

population served, as well as the class 

and type of service (AM or FM), 

determines the regulatory fee amount to 

be paid.5

2. Commercial Mobile Radio Service 

(CMRS) Messaging Service 

7. Since FY 2003, the Commission has 

maintained the CMRS Messaging 

regulatory fee at the rate that was 

established in FY 2002 (i.e., $0.08 per 

subscriber) to account for the messaging 

industry’s declining subscriber base.6

We note that between FY 1997 and FY 

2006, the CMRS Messaging subscriber 

base declined 79.7 percent from 40.8 

million to 8.3 million, respectively.7 We 

propose to continue the same approach 

for regulatory fees applicable to the 

messaging industry in FY 2007, thereby 

maintaining the industry’s regulatory 

fee at $0.08 per subscriber. We seek 

comment on this proposal. 

3. Broadband Radio Service (BRS)/ 

Educational Broadband Service (EBS) 

8. Recently, the Commission adopted 

a megahertz-based formula for BRS 

licensees with tiered fees by markets, 

similar to but more complex than the 

Commission’s annual scale of regulatory 

fees paid by broadcast television 

stations.8 According to this formula, 

annual fees will be charged on a permegahertz basis based upon three 

categories of Basic Trading Areas (BTA) 

population rankings: 9 Licensees in BTA 

rankings 1–60 will pay the highest fee, 

licensees in BTA rankings 61–200 will 

pay a lesser fee, and licensees in BTA 

rankings 201–493 will pay the lowest 

fee.10 Because this formula is complex, 

we are assessing the impact of this 

methodology (using a per-megahertz 

formula and a BTA populating ranking) 

on the manner in which regulatory fees 

are calculated for this class of licensees. 

We seek comment on how to devise a 

simple method of calculating regulatory 

fees that incorporates BTA population 

rankings and a per-megahertz fee for 

future fiscal years. We specifically seek 

comment on a formula for calculating 

regulatory fees that not only 

incorporates BTAs and a per-megahertz 

fee, but a formula that is also sensitive 

to rural operators in less densely 

populated areas. We seek comment on 

this proposal. Due to the complexities 

mentioned above and the need for 

detailed analysis, however, we will not 

implement any such changes for FY 

2007. 

4. International Bearer Circuits 

9. On February 6, 2006, VSNL 

Telecommunications (US) Inc. (VSNL) 

filed a Petition for Rulemaking urging 

the Commission to modify the current 

international bearer circuit fee rules and 

policies as applied to non-common 

carrier (i.e., private) submarine cable 

operators.11 We issued a Public Notice 

designating the proceeding as RM– 

11312 and requesting comment on the 

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24216 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

12 See Consumer and Governmental Affairs 

Bureau, Reference Information Center, Public 

Notice, Report No. 2759 (rel. Feb. 15, 2006). 

13 See 47 CFR 9.3 for the definition of 

interconnected VoIP service. 

14 See Universal Service Contribution Obligations 

for Providers of Interconnected Voice Over Internet 

Protocol (VoIP) Service, WC Docket No. 06–122, 

Report and Order and Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking, 21 FCC Rcd 7518, 7541, para. 46 

(2006) (2006 Interim Contribution Methodology 

Order). 

15 47 U.S.C. 159(1). 

16 See 2006 Interim Contribution Methodology 

Order 21 FCC Rcd at 7541, paras. 46–47 (finding 

that Title I gives the Commission subject matter 

jurisdiction over interconnected VoIP services and 

that imposition of a universal service contribution 

obligation is reasonably ancillary to effective 

performance of the Commission’s obligations under 

section 254 of the Act). Here, the regulatory fee 

obligation would be reasonably ancillary to the 

Commission’s obligations under section 9 of the 

Act. 

17 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. 

Petition.12 We continue to review the 

record in that proceeding. 

5. Interconnected Voice Over Internet 

Protocol Service Providers 

10. We tentatively conclude that 

providers of interconnected voice over 

Internet Protocol (‘‘VoIP’’) service 13

should pay regulatory fees. During FY 

2006, the Commission concluded that 

providers of interconnected VoIP 

services should contribute to the 

Universal Service Fund.14 Based on 

section 9’s broad mandate that the 

Commission ‘‘assess and collect 

regulatory fees to recover the costs’’ of 

regulatory activities 15 and our analysis 

in the 2006 Interim Contribution 

Methodology Order, we tentatively 

conclude that the Commission has the 

legal authority to extend regulatory fee 

obligations to interconnected VoIP 

service providers.16 We seek comment 

on whether we should assess regulatory 

fees on providers of interconnected 

VoIP services based on their revenue, 

which would be consistent with the 

regulatory fee methodology used for 

interstate telecommunications service 

providers, or whether we should assess 

regulatory fees using a numbers-based 

approach, which would be consistent 

with the methodology used for CMRS 

providers. 

B. Administrative and Operational 

Issues 

11. We seek comment on the 

administrative and operational 

processes used to collect the annual 

section 9 regulatory fees. Although these 

issues do not affect the amount of 

regulatory fees parties are obligated to 

submit, the administrative and 

operational issues affect the process of 

submitting payment. We invite 

comment on ways to improve these 

processes. 

1. Use of Fee Filer 

12. We continue to encourage 

regulatees to use the Commission’s 

online electronic Fee Filer application. 

Using the Commission’s Fee Filer 

application reduces paperwork burdens 

on payors because it eliminates the need 

to file a FCC Form 159. Regulatees 

submitting more than twenty-five (25) 

Form 159–Cs are strongly encouraged to 

use Fee Filer when sending their 

regulatory fee payment. We note that 

Fee Filer will accept credit card 

payments of up to $99,999.99. 

2. Proposals for Notification and 

Collection of Regulatory Fees 

13. In this section, we seek comment 

on the administrative processes that the 

Commission uses to notify regulatees 

and collect regulatory fees. Each year, 

we generate public notices and fact 

sheets that notify regulatees of the fee 

payment due date and provide 

additional information regarding 

regulatory fee payment procedures. 

Consistent with our established 

practice, we propose to provide public 

notices, fact sheets and all other 

relevant material on our Web site at 

http://www.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html for 

the FY 2007 regulatory fee cycle. 

Regulatees are then expected to pay 

their yearly regulatory fees by filing FCC 

Form 159 or by accessing the 

Commission’s Fee Filer web 

application. As a general practice, we 

will not send regulatory fee material to 

regulatees via surface mail. However, in 

the event that regulatees do not have 

access to the Internet, we will mail 

public notices and other relevant 

material upon request. Regulatees and 

the general public may request such 

information by contacting the FCC 

Financial Operations HelpDesk at (877) 

480–3201, Option 4. We seek comment 

on ways to improve our administrative 

processes. 

14. As discussed above, we do not 

send public notices and fact sheets to 

regulatees en masse. We propose, 

however, to continue to send specific 

regulatory fee pre-bills or assessment 

notifications via surface mail to the 

select fee categories discussed below.17

Pre-bills are hardcopy billing statements 

that the Commission mails to certain 

regulatees. Currently, the Commission 

only sends pre-bills to interstate 

telecommunications service providers 

(ITSPs) and satellite space station 

licensees. The remaining regulatees do 

not receive pre-bills. We are pursuing 

our pre-billing initiatives as part of our 

effort to modernize our financial 

practices. These initiatives also provide 

licensees with notification of upcoming 

regulatory fees. We seek comment on 

expanding our pre-billing initiatives to 

include other regulatory fee service 

categories. 

a. Interstate Telecommunications 

Service Providers (ITSPs) 

15. In FY 2001, we began mailing precompleted FCC Form 159–W 

assessments to carriers in an effort to 

assist them in paying their Interstate 

Telecommunications Service Provider 

(ITSP) regulatory fee. The fee amount on 

FCC Form 159–W was calculated from 

the FCC Form 499–A worksheet. 

Beginning in FY 2004, we mailed the 

completed FCC Form 159–W as a prebill, rather than as an assessment of 

amount due. Other than the manner in 

which Form 159–W payments were 

entered into our financial system, 

carriers experienced no procedural 

changes regarding the use of the FCC 

Form 159–W when submitting payment 

of their ITSP regulatory fees. We seek 

comment on continuing this pre-billing 

process in FY 2007. 

16. We also propose to round lines 14 

(total subject revenues) and 16 (total 

regulatory fee owed) on FCC Form 159– 

W to the nearest dollar. Line 14 must be 

rounded to a whole dollar amount 

because this data field is linked to the 

FCC Form 159 Remittance Advice Block 

25A (quantity), which can only accept 

whole numbers. It logically follows that 

if line 14 must be rounded, then the 

form’s final line that calculates the total 

fee owed (line 16) should be rounded to 

the nearest dollar, as well. Also, 

rounding lines 14 and 16 will nominally 

ease the filing and payment burdens of 

our Form 159–W filers. We seek 

comment on these proposals and on 

other ways that we could improve our 

pre-billing initiative for ITSPs. 

b. Satellite Space Station Licensees 

17. Beginning in FY 2004, we mailed 

regulatory fee pre-bills via surface mail 

to licensees in our two satellite space 

station service categories. Specifically, 

geostationary orbit space station (GSO) 

licensees receive bills requesting 

regulatory fee payment for satellites that 

(1) were licensed by the Commission 

and operational on or before October 1 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 24217 

18 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 feeexempt 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. 

19 Fee assessments are proposed again to be 

issued 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. Fee assessments have not 

been issued for broadcast auxiliary stations in prior 

years, nor will they be issued in FY 2007. 

20 The Commission-authorized web site for media 

services licensees is http://www.fccfees.com. 

21 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) (FY 2005 R&O 

and Order on Recon). 

22 Federal Communications Commission, 

Regulatory Fees Fact Sheet: What You Owe— 

Commercial Wireless Services for FY 2005 at 1 (rel. 

Jul. 2005). 

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 prebills requesting regulatory fee payment 

for systems that were licensed by the 

Commission and operational on or 

before October 1 of the respective fiscal 

year. 

18. For FY 2007, we propose to 

continue mailing pre-bills for our GSO 

and NGSO satellite space station 

categories. We seek comment on this 

proposal. We emphasize that the prebills that we propose to generate for our 

GSO and NGSO licensees will only be 

for the satellite or system aspects of 

their respective operations. GSO and 

NGSO licensees typically have 

regulatory fee obligations in other 

service categories (such as earth 

stations, broadcast facilities, etc.), and 

we expect satellite operators to meet 

their full fee payment obligation for all 

of their FCC holdings. We seek 

comment on our proposal to generate 

regulatory fee pre-bills for our two 

satellite space station service categories. 

c. Additional Service Categories for 

Billing 

19. We propose to expand our section 

9 regulatory fee pre-billing initiative to 

include the service categories for Earth 

Stations and Cable Television Relay 

Service (CARS) Stations, beginning in 

FY 2007. Pre-billing can be 

accomplished for these categories 

because they are comprised of relatively 

few payment units (relative to many 

other categories in our Schedule of 

Regulatory Fees), and because the 

Commission maintains licensing 

databases for both categories. We seek 

comment on our proposal to send 

regulatory fee pre-bills via surface mail 

to licensees of Earth Stations and CARS. 

d. Media Services Licensees 

20. Beginning in FY 2003, we sent fee 

assessment notifications via surface 

mail to media services entities on a perfacility basis. 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.18 We 

propose to continue our assessment 

initiative for media services licensees 

this year.19 We seek comment on this 

proposal. 

21. Consistent with procedures used 

last year, we propose to mail assessment 

notifications to licensees to their 

primary record of contact populated in 

CDBS (Consolidated Database System) 

and to their secondary record of contact, 

if available. We will continue to make 

the Commission-authorized web site 

available to licensees to update or 

correct any information concerning their 

facilities and to amend their fee-exempt 

status, if need be.20 We seek comment 

on this proposal. 

22. Under our proposal, licensees 

must still submit a completed FCC Form 

159 Remittance Advice with their fee 

payments. The assessment notifications 

cannot be used as a substitute for a 

completed Form 159. 

e. Commercial Mobile Radio Service 

(CMRS) Cellular and Mobile Services 

Assessments 

23. As we have done in prior years, 

we propose to mail an assessment letter 

to Commercial Mobile Radio Service 

(CMRS) providers using data that is 

based on the Numbering Resource 

Utilization Forecast (NRUF) form, 

which includes a list of the carrier’s 

Operating Company Numbers (OCNs) 

upon which the assessment is based.21

Consistent with existing practice, the 

letters will not include OCNs with their 

respective assigned number counts, but 

rather, an aggregate total of assigned 

numbers for each carrier. We also 

propose to continue our procedure of 

giving entities an opportunity to amend 

their subscriber counts by sending two 

rounds of assessment letters—an initial 

assessment and a final assessment letter. 

We seek comment on this proposal. 

24. If the number of subscribers on the 

initial assessment letter differs from the 

subscriber count the service provider 

provided on its NRUF form, the carrier 

can correct its subscriber count by 

returning the assessment letter or by 

contacting the Commission and stating 

a reason for the change, such as the 

purchase or the sale of a subsidiary, 

including the date of the transaction, 

and any other information that will help 

to justify a reason for the change. 

25. If we receive no response or 

correction to our initial assessment 

letter, we will expect the fee payment to 

be based on the number of subscribers 

listed on the initial assessment. We will 

review all responses to initial 

assessment letters and determine 

whether a change in the number of 

subscribers is warranted. We will then 

generate and mail a final assessment 

letter. The final assessment letter will 

inform carriers as to whether or not we 

accept the changed number of 

subscribers. As in previous years, 

operators will certify their subscriber 

counts in Block 30 of the FCC Form 159 

Remittance Advice when making their 

regulatory fee payments. We seek 

comment on our current procedures of 

assessing CMRS subscriber counts (for 

NRUF filers), and other ways to improve 

the process. 

26. Although an initial and a final 

assessment letter will be mailed to 

carriers that have filed an NRUF form, 

some carriers may not be sent a letter of 

assessment because they did not file the 

NRUF form. We propose that these 

carriers compute their fee payment 

using the standard methodology 22 that 

is currently in place for CMRS Wireless 

services (e.g., compute their subscriber 

counts as of December 31, 2006), and 

submit their payment accordingly on 

FCC Form 159. However, regardless of 

whether a carrier receives an assessment 

letter or computes the subscriber count 

itself, the Commission may audit the 

number of subscribers for which 

regulatory fees are paid. In the event 

that the Commission determines that the 

number of subscribers is inaccurate or 

that an insufficient reason is given for 

making a correction on the initial 

assessment letter, the Commission will 

assess the carrier for the difference 

between what was paid and what 

should have been paid. 

27. We, therefore, propose to (1) 

derive the subscriber count from NRUF 

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24218 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

23 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). 

24 See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory 

Fees for Fiscal Year 1998, MD Docket No. 98–36, 

Report and Order, 63 FR 35847, para. 49, and in 

Attachment H, Detailed Guidance on Who Must Pay 

Regulatory Fees, para. 14 (1998). 

data based on ‘‘assigned’’ number 

counts that have been adjusted for 

porting to net Type 0 ports (‘‘in’’ and 

‘‘out’’); (2) provide carriers with an 

opportunity to revise their subscriber 

counts at the time when the initial 

assessment letter is mailed; and (3) 

require carriers to confirm their 

subscriber counts at the aggregate level 

using data in the NRUF report. We seek 

comment on these proposals. 

f. Cable Television Subscribers 

28. We propose to 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 on the FCC Form 159 Remittance 

Advice. We seek comment on this 

proposal. Operators, after providing 

their company’s aggregate subscriber 

count in Block 25A of the FCC Form 

159, will still be required to certify the 

accuracy of the subscriber count in 

Block 30. This practice has worked well 

for the Commission the past three fiscal 

years and has eased administrative 

burdens for the cable television 

industry. 

29. Last year, for the first time, we 

sent a message to e-mail addresses 

populated in the Media Bureau’s Cable 

Operations and Licensing System 

(COALS) to notify recipients of the FY 

2006 regulatory fee payment due date 

and the fee amount for basic cable 

television subscribers. We propose to 

continue this effort for FY 2007. We also 

propose to discontinue our practice of 

sending fee assessment letters via 

surface mail to cable television 

operators who are on file as having paid 

regulatory fees the previous fiscal year. 

We seek comment on our proposals. 

3. Streamlined Regulatory Fee Payment 

Process for Commercial Mobile Radio 

Service (CMRS) Cellular and Mobile 

Providers 

30. 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, 

requiring instead for CMRS providers to 

pay their regulatory fees only at the 

aggregate subscriber level without 

having to identify their various call 

signs.23 We propose to continue this 

practice in FY 2007. We seek comment 

on this proposal. As an additional 

measure to reduce the administrative 

burden on CMRS licensees, we propose 

to consolidate the CMRS cellular and 

CMRS mobile fee categories into one fee 

category, 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. We seek comment on 

this proposal. 

31. In our FY 1998 Report and Order, 

the Commission classified Wireless 

Communications Service (WCS), which 

included Personal Communications 

Services (Part 24), as a CMRS Mobile 

Service, stating that the Commercial 

Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) is ‘‘an 

‘umbrella’ descriptive term attributed to 

various existing broadband services 

authorized to provide interconnected 

mobile radio services.’’ 24 However, 

beginning in FY 1998, a separate fee 

code was provided for Personal 

Communications Service (PCS) to 

monitor the number of units in this 

category of service. In recent years, the 

need to track the number of units for 

CMRS cellular and CMRS mobile 

separately has become unnecessary, 

especially for regulatory fee purposes. 

Therefore, beginning in FY 2007, we 

propose to consolidate the CMRS 

cellular and CMRS mobile fee categories 

into one CMRS fee category. To 

illustrate, in FY 2007 the CMRS cellular 

fee category of ‘‘0711’’ and the CMRS 

mobile fee category of ‘‘0712’’ would be 

consolidated into the fee category of 

‘‘0711.’’ Licensees paying regulatory 

fees for CMRS cellular and CMRS 

mobile will need only to identify their 

aggregate subscriber unit totals under 

the fee code of ‘‘0711.’’ We seek 

comment on this proposal. 

4. Future Streamlining of the Regulatory 

Fee Assessment and Collection Process 

32. We continue to welcome 

comments concerning our commitment 

to reviewing, streamlining, and 

modernizing our statutorily required fee 

assessment and collection procedures. 

Our areas of particular interest include: 

(1) The process for notifying licensees 

about changes in the annual Schedule of 

Regulatory Fees and how it can be 

improved; (2) the most effective way to 

disseminate regulatory fee assessments 

and bills, e.g., through surface mail, email, online Web site, or some other 

mechanism; (3) the fee payment process, 

including how the agency’s online 

regulatory fee filing system (Fee Filer) 

can be enhanced; (4) the timing of fee 

payments, including whether we should 

alter the existing section 9 regulatory fee 

payment window in any way; and (5) 

the timing of fee assessments and prebills. 

III. Procedural Matters 

A. Payment of Regulatory Fees 

1. De Minimis Fee Payment Liability 

33. Consistent with past practice, 

regulatees whose total FY 2006 

regulatory fee liability, including all 

categories of fees for which payment is 

due, amounts to less than $10 will be 

exempted from payment of FY 2007 

regulatory fees. 

2. Standard Fee Calculations and 

Payment Dates 

34. The Commission will, for the 

convenience of payers, accept fee 

payments made in advance of the 

window for the payment of regulatory 

fees. Licensees are reminded that, under 

our current rules, the responsibility for 

payment of fees by service category is as 

follows: 

(a) Media Services: Regulatory fees 

must be paid for initial construction 

permits that were granted on or before 

October 1, 2006 for AM/FM radio 

stations, VHF/UHF television stations 

and satellite television stations. 

Regulatory fees must be paid for all 

broadcast facility licenses granted on or 

before October 1, 2006. In instances 

where a permit or license is transferred 

or assigned after October 1, 2006, 

responsibility for payment rests with the 

holder of the permit or license as of the 

fee due date. 

(b) Wireline (Common Carrier) 

Services: Regulatory fees must be paid 

for authorizations that were granted on 

or before October 1, 2006. In instances 

where a permit or license is transferred 

or assigned after October 1, 2006, 

responsibility for payment rests with the 

holder of the permit or license as of the 

fee due date. 

(c) Wireless Services: Commercial 

Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) cellular, 

mobile, and messaging services (fees 

based upon a subscriber, unit or circuit 

count): Regulatory fees must be paid for 

authorizations that were granted on or 

before October 1, 2006. The number of 

subscribers, units or circuits on 

December 31, 2006 will be used as the 

basis from which to calculate the fee 

payment. 

The first eleven regulatory fee 

categories in our Schedule of Regulatory 

Fees (see Attachment D) pay what we 

refer to as ‘‘small multi-year wireless 

regulatory fees.’’ Entities pay these 

regulatory fees in advance for the entire 

amount of their 5-year or 10-year term 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 24219 

25 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 2006, 

rather than on a count as of December 31, 2006. 

26 Regulatory fees for International Bearer Circuits 

are to be paid by facilities-based common carriers 

that have active international bearer circuits in any 

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. Noncommon carrier submarine cable operators are also 

to pay fees for any and all international bearer 

circuits sold on an indefeasible right of use (IRU) 

basis 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. See Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2001, MD Docket 

No. 01–76, Report and Order, 16 FCC Rcd 13525, 

13593 (2001); Regulatory Fees Fact Sheet: What You 

Owe—International and Satellite Services Licensees 

for FY 2004 at 3 (rel. July 2004) (the fact sheet is 

available on the FCC web-site at: http:// 

hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs—public/attachmatch/ 

DOC–249904A4.pdf). On February 6, 2006, VSNL 

Telecommunications (US) Inc. filed a Petition for 

Rulemaking urging the Commission to reform the 

current International Bearer Circuit Fee rules and 

policies as applied to non-common carrier 

submarine cable operators. See Petition for 

Rulemaking of VSNL Telecommunications (US) 

Inc., RM–11312 (filed February 6, 2006). This 

Petition remains pending before the Commission, 

which has issued a Public Notice requesting 

comment on the petition. See Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, Public Notice, Report No. 2759 

(released February 15, 2006). The Commission 

intends to resolve the complex issues presented by 

this Petition separately, and any comments on these 

issues filed in the instant proceeding will be 

incorporated into, and addressed, with those filed 

on the Petition for Rulemaking. 

27 See 5 U.S.C. 603. In addition, the NPRM and 

the IRFA (or summaries thereof) will be published 

in the Federal Register. 

28 See 47 CFR 1.1206(b); see also 47 CFR 1.1202, 

1.1203. 

of initial license, and only pay 

regulatory fees again for the license at 

the time of its next renewal. So while 

we include these eleven categories in 

our Schedule of Regulatory Fees to 

publicize the fee amounts, we do not 

actually collect these fees on an annual 

basis. 

(d) 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, 2006.25

Regulatory fees also must be paid for 

CARS licenses that were granted on or 

before October 1, 2006. In instances 

where a CARS license is transferred or 

assigned after October 1, 2006, 

responsibility for payment rests with the 

holder of the license as of the fee due 

date. 

(e) 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, 2006. In instances 

where a license is transferred or 

assigned after October 1, 2006, 

responsibility for payment rests with the 

holder of the license as of the fee due 

date. Regulatory fees must be paid for 

international bearer circuits, the 

payments of which are determined by 

the number of active circuits as of 

December 31, 2006.26

B. Enforcement 

35. As a reminder to all licensees, 

section 159(c) of the Communications 

Act requires us to impose an additional 

charge as a penalty for late payment of 

any regulatory fee. As in years past, a 

late payment penalty of 25 percent of 

the amount of the required regulatory 

fee will be assessed on the first day 

following the deadline date for filing of 

these fees. Regulatory fee payment must 

be received and stamped at the lockbox 

bank by the last day of the regulatory fee 

filing window, and not merely 

postmarked by the last day of the 

window. Failure to pay regulatory fees 

and/or any late penalty will subject 

regulatees to sanctions, including the 

Commission’s Red Light Rule (see 47 

CFR 1.1910) and the provisions set forth 

in the Debt Collection Improvement Act 

of 1996 (DCIA). 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 47 CFR 1.1940(d) of the 

Commission’s rules. 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. 

36. Furthermore, our regulatory fee 

rules provide that 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. See 47 CFR 

1.1161(c), 1.1164(f)(5), and 1.1910. 

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). 

C. Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

37. With respect to this NPRM, an 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

(IRFA), is contained in Attachment A of 

the Appendix.27 Comments must be 

identified as responses to the IRFA and 

must be filed by the deadlines for 

comments on the NPRM specified infra. 

The Commission will send a copy of the 

NPRM, including the IRFA, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration. 

D. Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 Analysis 

38. This NPRM does not contain 

proposed or modified information 

collection(s) 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. 

E. Ex Parte Rules 

39. Permit-But-Disclose. This 

proceeding will be treated as a ‘‘permitbut-disclose’’ proceeding subject to the 

‘‘permit-but-disclose’’ requirements 

under section 1.1206(b) of the 

Commission’s rules.28 Ex parte 

presentations are permissible if 

disclosed in accordance with 

Commission rules, except during the 

Sunshine Agenda period when 

presentations, ex parte or otherwise, are 

generally prohibited. Persons making 

oral ex parte presentations are reminded 

that a memorandum summarizing a 

presentation must contain a summary of 

the substance of the presentation and 

not merely a listing of the subjects 

discussed. More than a one- or twosentence description of the views and 

arguments presented is generally 

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24220 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

29 See 47 CFR 1.1206(b)(2). 

30 See id. 1.415, 1419. 

31 Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking 

Proceedings, 13 FCC Rcd 11322 (1998). 

32 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). 

33 5 U.S.C. 603(a). 

34 Id. 

35 47 U.S.C. 154(i) and (j), 159, and 303(r). 

36 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3). 

37 5 U.S.C. 601(6). 

38 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 

required.29 Additional rules pertaining 

to oral and written presentations are set 

forth in section 1.1206(b). 

F. Filing Requirements 

40. Comments and Replies. Pursuant 

to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the 

Commission’s rules,30 interested parties 

may file 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) procedures for filing paper 

copies.31

41. Electronic Filers: Comments may 

be filed electronically using the Internet 

by accessing the ECFS: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs or the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Filers should 

follow the instructions provided on the 

Web site for submitting comments. For 

ECFS filers, if multiple docket or 

rulemaking numbers appear in the 

caption of this proceeding, filers must 

transmit one electronic copy of the 

comments for each docket or 

rulemaking number referenced in the 

caption. In completing the transmittal 

screen, filers should include their full 

name, U.S. Postal Service mailing 

address, and the applicable docket or 

rulemaking number. Parties may also 

submit an electronic comment by 

Internet e-mail. To get filing 

instructions, filers should send an email to ecfs@fcc.gov, and include the 

following words in the body of the 

message, ‘‘get form.’’ A sample form and 

directions will be sent in response. 

42. 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. Filings 

can be sent by hand or messenger 

delivery, by commercial overnight 

courier, or by first-class or overnight 

U.S. Postal Service mail (although we 

continue to experience delays in 

receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). All 

filings must be addressed to the 

Commission’s Secretary, Office of the 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission. 

<bullet≤ The Commission’s contractor 

will receive hand-delivered or 

messenger-delivered paper filings for 

the Commission’s Secretary at 236 

Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Suite 110, 

Washington, DC 20002. The filing hours 

at this location are 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. All 

hand deliveries must be held together 

with rubber bands or fasteners. Any 

envelopes must be disposed of before 

entering the building. 

<bullet≤ 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. 

<bullet≤ U.S. Postal Service firstclass, Express, and Priority mail should 

be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

43. 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., CYA257, Washington, DC, 20554. These 

documents will also be available free 

online, via ECFS. Documents will be 

available electronically in ASCII, Word 

97, and/or Adobe Acrobat. 

44. Accessibility Information. To 

request information in accessible 

formats (computer diskettes, large print, 

audio recording, and Braille), send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the FCC’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. 

IV. Ordering Clauses 

45. 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 Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking is hereby 

adopted. 

46. It is further ordered that the 

Commission’s Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 

Information Center, shall send a copy of 

this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 

including the Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene H. Dortch, 

Secretary. 

Attachment A—Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis 

47. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (RFA),32 the Commission 

has prepared this Initial Regulatory 

Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) of the 

possible significant economic impact on 

small entities by the policies and rules 

in the present NPRM. Written public 

comments are requested on this IRFA. 

Comments must be identified as 

responses to the IRFA and must be filed 

on or before the dates indicated on the 

first page of this NPRM. The 

Commission will send a copy of the 

NPRM, including the IRFA, to the Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 

Business Administration.33 In addition, 

the NPRM and IRFA (or summaries 

thereof) will be published in the Federal 

Register.34

I. Need for, and Objectives of, the 

Proposed Rules 

48. This rulemaking proceeding is 

initiated to obtain comments concerning 

the Commission’s proposed amendment 

of its Schedule of Regulatory Fees in the 

amount of $290,295,160, the amount 

that Congress has required the 

Commission to recover. The 

Commission seeks to collect the 

necessary amount through its proposed 

Schedule of Regulatory Fees in the most 

efficient manner possible and without 

undue public burden. 

II. Legal Basis 

49. This action, including publication 

of proposed rules, is authorized under 

sections (4)(i) and (j), 9, and 303(r) of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended.35

III. Description and Estimate of the 

Number of Small Entities to Which the 

Proposed Rules Will Apply 

50. 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.36 The RFA generally defines 

the term ‘‘small entity’’ as having the 

same meaning as the terms ‘‘small 

business,’’ ‘‘small organization,’’ and 

‘‘small governmental jurisdiction.’’ 37 In 

addition, the term ‘‘small business’’ has 

the same meaning as the term ‘‘small 

business concern’’ under the Small 

Business Act.38 A ‘‘small business 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 24221 

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.’’ 39 15 U.S.C. 632. 40 SBA, Programs and Services, SBA Pamphlet 

No. CO–0028, at page 40 (July 2002). 41 Independent Sector, The New Nonprofit 

Almanac & Desk Reference (2002). 42 5 U.S.C. 601(5). 43 U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the 

United States: 2006, Section 8, page 272, Table 415. 44 We assume that the villages, school districts, 

and special districts are small, and total 48,558. 

U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the 

United States: 2006, section 8, page 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. 

45 15 U.S. C. 632. 

46 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). 

47 13 CFR 121.201, North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) code 517110. 

48 FCC, Wireline Competition Bureau, Industry 

Analysis and Technology Division, ‘‘Trends in 

Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3, Page 5–5 (June 

2005) (hereinafter ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’). 

This source uses data that are current as of October 

1, 2004. 

49 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 

50 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 

51 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 

52 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 

53 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 

54 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 

55 3 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 

56 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 

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.39

51. Small Businesses. Nationwide, 

there are a total of 22.4 million small 

businesses, according to SBA data.40

52. Small Organizations. Nationwide, 

there are approximately 1.6 million 

small organizations.41

53. 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.’’ 42 Census 

Bureau data for 2002 indicate that there 

were 87,525 local governmental 

jurisdictions in the United States.43 We 

estimate that, of this total, 84,377 

entities were ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdictions.’’ 44 Thus, we estimate that 

most governmental jurisdictions are 

small. 

54. 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.’’ 45 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.46

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. 

55. 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.47 According to 

Commission data,48 1,303 carriers have 

reported that they are engaged in the 

provision of incumbent local exchange 

services. Of these 1,303 carriers, an 

estimated 1,020 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and 283 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 proposed action. 

56. 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.49 According to Commission 

data,50 769 carriers have reported that 

they are engaged in the provision of 

either competitive access provider 

services or competitive local exchange 

carrier services. Of these 769 carriers, an 

estimated 676 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and 94 have more than 1,500 

employees. In addition, 12 carriers have 

reported that they are ‘‘Shared-Tenant 

Service Providers,’’ and all 12 are 

estimated to have 1.500 or fewer 

employees. In addition, 39 carriers have 

reported that they are ‘‘Other Local 

Service Providers.’’ Of the 39, an 

estimated 38 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and one has more than 1,500 

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 proposed action. 

57. 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.51 According to Commission 

data,52 143 carriers have reported that 

they are engaged in the provision of 

local resale services. Of these, an 

estimated 141 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and two have more than 

1,500 employees. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of local resellers are small entities that 

may be affected by our proposed action. 

58. 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.53 According to Commission 

data,54 770 carriers have reported that 

they are engaged in the provision of toll 

resale services. Of these, an estimated 

747 have 1,500 or fewer employees and 

23 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 proposed action. 

59. 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.55 According to 

Commission data,56 654 carriers have 

reported that they are engaged in the 

provision of payphone services. Of 

these, an estimated 652 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 proposed action. 

60. Interexchange Carriers (IXCs). 

Neither the Commission nor the SBA 

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57 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 58 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 59 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 60 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 61 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 62 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 63 We include all toll-free number subscribers in 

this category, including those for 888 numbers. 

64 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 65 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Tables 18.4, 

18.5, 18.6, and 18.7. 66 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 517410 and 

517910. 67 U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517410 Satellite Telecommunications’’; http:// 

www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM. 68 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). 

69 Id. An additional 38 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

70 U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517910 Other Telecommunications’’ http:// 

www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM. 

71 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). 

72 Id. An additional 14 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

73 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517211. 

74 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

75 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). 

76 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 

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.57 According to 

Commission data,58 316 carriers have 

reported that they are engaged in the 

provision of interexchange service. Of 

these, an estimated 292 have 1,500 or 

fewer employees and 24 have more than 

1,500 employees. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of IXCs are small entities that may be 

affected by our proposed action. 

61. 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.59 According to 

Commission data,60 23 carriers have 

reported that they are engaged in the 

provision of operator services. Of these, 

an estimated 20 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and three have more than 

1,500 employees. Consequently, the 

Commission estimates that the majority 

of OSPs are small entities that may be 

affected by our proposed action. 

62. 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.61 According to Commission 

data,62 89 carriers have reported that 

they are engaged in the provision of 

prepaid calling cards. Of these, an 

estimated 88 have 1,500 or fewer 

employees and one has 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 proposed action. 

63. 800 and 800-Like Service 

Subscribers.63 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.64 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.65 According to our data, at the end 

of December 2004, the number of 800 

numbers assigned was 7,540,453; the 

number of 888 numbers assigned was 

5,947,789; the number of 877 numbers 

assigned was 4,805,568; and the number 

of 866 numbers assigned was 5,011,291. 

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 7,540,453 or fewer small 

entity 800 subscribers; 5,947,789 or 

fewer small entity 888 subscribers; 

4,805,568 or fewer small entity 877 

subscribers, and 5,011,291 or fewer 

entity 866 subscribers. 

64. International Service Providers. 

There is no small business size standard 

developed specifically for providers of 

international service. The appropriate 

size standards under SBA rules are for 

the two broad census categories of 

‘‘Satellite Telecommunications’’ and 

‘‘Other Telecommunications.’’ Under 

both categories, such a business is small 

if it has $13.5 million or less in average 

annual receipts.66

65. The first category of Satellite 

Telecommunications ‘‘comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in 

providing point-to-point 

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.’’ 67 For this 

category, Census Bureau data for 2002 

show that there were a total of 371 firms 

that operated for the entire year.68 Of 

this total, 307 firms had annual receipts 

of under $10 million, and 26 firms had 

receipts of $10 million to $24,999,999.69

Consequently, we estimate that the 

majority of Satellite 

Telecommunications firms are small 

entities that might be affected by our 

action. 

66. The second category of Other 

Telecommunications ‘‘comprises 

establishments primarily engaged in (1) 

providing specialized 

telecommunications applications, such 

as satellite tracking, communications 

telemetry, and radar station operations; 

or (2) providing satellite terminal 

stations and associated facilities 

operationally connected with one or 

more terrestrial communications 

systems and capable of transmitting 

telecommunications to or receiving 

telecommunications from satellite 

systems.’’70 For this category, Census 

Bureau data for 2002 show that there 

were a total of 332 firms that operated 

for the entire year.71 Of this total, 259 

firms had annual receipts of under $10 

million and 15 firms had annual 

receipts of $10 million to $24,999,999.72

Consequently, we estimate that the 

majority of Other Telecommunications 

firms are small entities that might be 

affected by our action. 

67. Wireless Service Providers. The 

SBA has developed a small business 

size standard for wireless firms within 

the two broad economic census 

categories of ‘‘Paging’’ 73 and ‘‘Cellular 

and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications.’’ 74 Under both 

categories, the SBA deems a wireless 

business to be small if it has 1,500 or 

fewer employees. For the census 

category of Paging, Census Bureau data 

for 2002 show that there were 807 firms 

in this category that operated for the 

entire year.75 Of this total, 804 firms had 

employment of 999 or fewer employees, 

and three firms had employment of 

1,000 employees or more.76 Thus, under 

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largest category provided is for firms with ‘‘1000 

employees or more.’’ 

77 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). 

78 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.’’ 

79 Office of Management and Budget, North 

American Industry Classification System, page 515 

(1997). NAICS code 518111, ‘‘On-Line Information 

Services.’’ 

80 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 518111. 

81 U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: ‘‘Information,’’ Table 4, Receipts 

Size of Firms Subject to Federal Income Tax: 1997, 

NAICS code 514191 (issued October 2000). 

82 U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: ‘‘Information,’’ Table 4, Receipts 

Size of Firms Subject to Federal Income Tax: 1997, 

NAICS code 514191 (issued October 2000). 

83 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517211. 

84 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

85 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). 86 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.’’ 87 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). 88 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.’’ 89 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 513322 (changed 

to 517212 in October 2002). 90 U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: ‘‘Information,’’ Table 5, Employment 

Size of Firms Subject to Federal Income Tax: 1997, 

NAICS code 513321 (issued October 2000). 91 U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: ‘‘Information,’’ Table 5, Employment 

Size of Firms Subject to Federal Income Tax: 1997, 

NAICS code 513321 (issued October 2000). 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 ‘‘Firms with 1000 employees or more.’’ 

92 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). 

93 Paging Second Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 

at 2811, para. 179. 

94 See Letter to Amy Zoslov, Chief, Auctions and 

Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, from Aida Alvarez, 

Administrator, Small Business Administration, 

dated Dec. 2, 1998. 

95 See ‘‘929 and 931 MHz Paging Auction 

Closes,’’ Public Notice, 15 FCC Rcd 4858 (WTB 

2000). 

96 See ‘‘929 and 931 MHz Paging Auction 

Closes,’’ Public Notice, 15 FCC Rcd 4858 (WTB 

2000). 

97 See ‘‘Lower and Upper Paging Band Auction 

Closes,’’ Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 21821 (WTB 

2002). 

98 See ‘‘Lower and Upper Paging Bands Auction 

Closes,’’ Public Notice, 18 FCC Rcd 11154 (WTB 

2003). 

99 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 

100 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517211. 

this category and associated small 

business size standard, the majority of 

firms can be considered small. For the 

census category of Cellular and Other 

Wireless Telecommunications, Census 

Bureau data for 2002 show that there 

were 1,397 firms in this category that 

operated for the entire year.77 Of this 

total, 1,378 firms had employment of 

999 or fewer employees, and 19 firms 

had employment of 1,000 employees or 

more.78 Thus, under this second 

category and size standard, the majority 

of firms can, again, be considered small. 

68. Internet Service Providers. The 

SBA has developed a small business 

size standard for Internet Service 

Providers. This category comprises 

establishments ‘‘primarily engaged in 

providing direct access through 

telecommunications networks to 

computer-held information compiled or 

published by others.’’ 79 Under the SBA 

size standard, such a business is small 

if it has average annual receipts of $21 

million or less.80 According to Census 

Bureau data for 1997, there were 2,751 

firms in this category that operated for 

the entire year.81 Of these, 2,659 firms 

had annual receipts of under $10 

million, and an additional 67 firms had 

receipts of between $10 million and 

$24,999,999.82 Thus, under this size 

standard, the great majority of firms can 

be considered small entities. 

69. Cellular Licensees. The SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for wireless firms within the 

two broad economic census categories 

of ‘‘Paging’’ 83 and ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Wireless Telecommunications.’’ 84

Under both categories, the SBA deems 

a wireless business to be small if it has 

1,500 or fewer employees. For the 

census category of Paging, Census 

Bureau data for 2002 show that there 

were 807 firms in this category that 

operated for the entire year.85 Of this 

total, 804 firms had employment of 999 

or fewer employees, and three firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more.86 Thus, under this category and 

associated small business size standard, 

the majority of firms can be considered 

small. For the census category of 

Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications, Census Bureau 

data for 2002 show that there were 1,397 

firms in this category that operated for 

the entire year.87 Of this total, 1,378 

firms had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and 19 firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more.88 Thus, under this second 

category and size standard, the majority 

of firms can, again, be considered small. 

70. Common Carrier Paging. As noted, 

the SBA has developed a small business 

size standard for wireless firms within 

the broad economic census categories of 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications.’’ 89 Under this 

SBA category, a wireless business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. 

For the census category of Paging, U.S. 

Census Bureau data for 1997 show that 

there were 1,320 firms in this category, 

total, that operated for the entire year.90

Of this total, 1,303 firms had 

employment of 999 or fewer employees, 

and an additional 17 firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more.91 Thus, under this category and 

associated small business size standard, 

the great majority of firms can be 

considered small. 

71. 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.92 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.93

The SBA has approved this definition.94

An auction of Metropolitan Economic 

Area (MEA) licenses commenced on 

February 24, 2000, and closed on March 

2, 2000. Of the 2,499 licenses auctioned, 

985 were sold.95 Fifty-seven companies 

claiming small business status won 440 

licenses.96 An auction of MEA and 

Economic Area (EA) licenses 

commenced on October 30, 2001, and 

closed on December 5, 2001. Of the 

15,514 licenses auctioned, 5,323 were 

sold.97 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 

commenced on May 13, 2003, and 

closed on May 28, 2003. Seventy-seven 

bidders claiming small or very small 

business status won 2,093 licenses.98

Currently, there are approximately 

74,000 Common Carrier Paging licenses. 

According to the most recent ‘‘Trends in 

Telephone Service’’, 408 private and 

common carriers reported that they 

were engaged in the provision of either 

paging or ‘‘other mobile’’ services.99 Of 

these, we estimate that 589 are small, 

under the SBA-approved small business 

size standard.100 We estimate that the 

majority of common carrier paging 

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101 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). 

102 See Letter to Amy Zoslov, Chief, Auctions and 

Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA (Dec. 2, 1998). 

103 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

104 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

105 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Table 5.3. 

106 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); see also 47 CFR §

24.720(b). 

107 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, 

7852, para. 60. 

108 See Letter to Amy Zoslov, Chief, Auctions and 

Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA (Dec. 2, 1998). 

109 FCC News, ‘‘Broadband PCS, D, E and F Block 

Auction Closes,’’ No. 71744 (rel. Jan. 14, 1997). 

110 See ‘‘C, D, E, and F Block Broadband PCS 

Auction Closes,’’ Public Notice, 14 FCC Rcd 6688 

(WTB 1999). 

111 See ‘‘C and F Block Broadband PCS Auction 

Closes; Winning Bidders Announced,’’ Public 

Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 2339 (2001). 

112 See ‘‘Broadband PCS Spectrum Auction 

Closes; Winning Bidders Announced for Auction 

No. 58,’’ Public Notice, 20 FCC Rcd 3703 (2005). 

113 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). 

114 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 (rel. 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 

(rel. Nov. 9, 1994). 

115 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). 

116 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). 

117 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). 

118 See Letter to Amy Zoslov, Chief, Auctions and 

Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, from Aida Alvarez, 

Administrator, Small Business Administration, 

dated Dec. 2, 1998. 

119 See ‘‘Narrowband PCS Auction Closes,’’ 

Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 18663 (WTB 2001). 

providers would qualify as small 

entities under the SBA definition. 

72. 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.101 The SBA has approved these 

definitions.102 The Commission 

auctioned geographic area licenses in 

the WCS service. In the auction, which 

commenced on April 15, 1997 and 

closed on April 25, 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. 

An auction for one license in the 1670– 

1674 MHz band commenced on April 

30, 2003 and closed the same day. One 

license was awarded. The winning 

bidder was not a small entity. 

73. Wireless Telephony. Wireless 

telephony includes cellular, personal 

communications services, and 

specialized mobile radio telephony 

carriers. The SBA has developed a small 

business size standard for ‘‘Cellular and 

Other Wireless Telecommunications’’ 

services.103 Under the SBA small 

business size standard, a business is 

small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees.104 According to ‘‘Trends in 

Telephone Service’’ data, 437 carriers 

reported that they were engaged in 

wireless telephony.105 We have 

estimated that 260 of these are small 

under the SBA small business size 

standard. 

74. 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.106 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.107 These small business 

size standards, in the context of 

broadband PCS auctions, have been 

approved by the SBA.108 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.109 On 

March 23, 1999, the Commission 

reauctioned 155 C, D, E, and F Block 

licenses; there were 113 small business 

winning bidders.110

75. On January 26, 2001, the 

Commission completed the auction of 

422 C and F Broadband PCS licenses in 

Auction No. 35. Of the 35 winning 

bidders in this auction, 29 qualified as 

‘‘small’’ or ‘‘very small’’ businesses.111

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. On February 15, 2005, the 

Commission completed an auction of 

188 C block licenses and 21 F block 

licenses in Auction No. 58. There were 

24 winning bidders for 217 licenses.112

Of the 24 winning bidders, 16 claimed 

small business status and won 156 

licenses. 

76. Narrowband Personal 

Communications Services. The 

Commission held an auction for 

Narrowband PCS licenses that 

commenced on July 25, 1994, and 

closed on July 29, 1994. A second 

auction commenced on October 26, 

1994 and closed on November 8, 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.113

Through these auctions, the 

Commission awarded a total of 41 

licenses, 11 of which were obtained by 

four small businesses.114 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.115 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.116 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.117 The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards.118 A third auction 

commenced on October 3, 2001 and 

closed on October 16, 2001. Here, five 

bidders won 317 (Metropolitan Trading 

Areas and nationwide) licenses.119

Three of these claimed status as a small 

or very small entity and won 311 

licenses. 

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120 See Reallocation and Service Rules for the 

698–746 MHz Spectrum Band (Television Channels 

52–59), Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 1022 (2002). 

121 See Reallocation and Service Rules for the 

698–746 MHz Spectrum Band (Television Channels 

52–59), Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 1022, 1087– 

88, para. 172 (2002). 

122 See Reallocation and Service Rules for the 

698–746 MHz Spectrum Band (Television Channels 

52–59), Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 1022, 1087– 

88, para. 172 (2002). 

123 See Reallocation and Service Rules for the 

698–746 MHz Spectrum Band (Television Channels 

52–59), Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 1022, 1088, 

para. 173 (2002). 

124 See Letter to Thomas Sugrue, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, from Aida Alvarez, 

Administrator, Small Business Administration, 

dated Aug. 10, 1999. 

125 See ‘‘Lower 700 MHz Band Auction Closes,’’ 

Public Notice, 17 FCC Rcd 17272 (WTB 2002). 

126 See ‘‘Lower 700 MHz Band Auction Closes,’’ 

Public Notice, 18 FCC Rcd 11873 (WTB 2003). 

127 See ‘‘Lower 700 MHz Band Auction Closes,’’ 

Public Notice, 18 FCC Rcd 11873 (WTB 2003). 

128 Service Rules for the 746–764 and 776–794 

MHz Bands, and Revisions to Part 27 of the 

Commission’s Rules, Second Memorandum 

Opinion and Order, 16 FCC Rcd 1239 (2001). 

129 See ‘‘Auction of Licenses for 747–762 and 

777–792 MHz Bands (Auction No. 31) Is 

Rescheduled,’’ Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 13079 

(WTB 2003). 

130 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). 

131 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, 5343, 

para. 108 (2000). 

132 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, 5343, 

para. 108 (2000). 

133 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, 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). 

134 See ‘‘700 MHz Guard Bands Auction Closes: 

Winning Bidders Announced,’’ Public Notice, 15 

FCC Rcd 18026 (2000). 

135 See ‘‘700 MHz Guard Bands Auction Closes: 

Winning Bidders Announced,’’ Public Notice, 16 

FCC Rcd 4590 (WTB 2001). 

136 47 CFR 90.814(b)(1). 

137 47 CFR 90.814(b)(1). 

138 See Letter to Thomas Sugrue, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, from Aida Alvarez, 

Administrator, Small Business Administration, 

dated Aug. 10, 1999. We note that, although a 

request was also sent to the SBA requesting 

approval for the small business size standard for 

800 MHz, approval is still pending. 

139 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). 

140 See ‘‘Multi-Radio Service Auction Closes,’’ 

Public Notice, 17 FCC Rcd 1446 (WTB 2002). 

77. Lower 700 MHz Band Licenses. 

We adopted criteria for defining three 

groups of small businesses for purposes 

of determining their eligibility for 

special provisions such as bidding 

credits.120 We have 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.121 A ‘‘very small 

business’’ is defined as 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.122

Additionally, the lower 700 MHz 

Service has a third category of small 

business status that may be claimed 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.123

The SBA has approved these small size 

standards.124 An auction of 740 licenses 

(one license in each of the 734 MSAs/ 

RSAs and one license in each of the six 

Economic Area Groupings (EAGs)) 

commenced on August 27, 2002, and 

closed on September 18, 2002. 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.125 A 

second auction commenced on May 28, 

2003, and closed on June 13, 2003, and 

included 256 licenses: 5 EAG licenses 

and 476 Cellular Market Area 

licenses.126 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.127 On July 

26, 2005, the Commission completed an 

auction of 5 licenses in the Lower 700 

MHz band (Auction No. 60). There were 

three winning bidders for five licenses. 

All three winning bidders claimed small 

business status. 

78. Upper 700 MHz Band Licenses. 

The Commission released a Report and 

Order, authorizing service in the upper 

700 MHz band.128 This auction, 

previously scheduled for January 13, 

2003, has been postponed.129

79. 700 MHz Guard Band Licenses. In 

the 700 MHz Guard Band Order, we 

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.130 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.131 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.132 SBA 

approval of these definitions is not 

required.133 An auction of 52 Major 

Economic Area (MEA) licenses 

commenced on September 6, 2000, and 

closed on September 21, 2000.134 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 700 MHz Guard Band licenses 

commenced on February 13, 2001, and 

closed on February 21, 2001. All eight 

of the licenses auctioned were sold to 

three bidders. One of these bidders was 

a small business that won a total of two 

licenses.135

80. Specialized Mobile Radio. The 

Commission awards ‘‘small entity’’ 

bidding credits in auctions for 

Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) 

geographic area licenses in the 800 MHz 

and 900 MHz bands to firms that had 

revenues of no more than $15 million in 

each of the three previous calendar 

years.136 The Commission awards ‘‘very 

small entity’’ bidding credits to firms 

that had revenues of no more than $3 

million in each of the three previous 

calendar years.137 The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards for the 900 MHz Service.138

The Commission has held auctions for 

geographic area licenses in the 800 MHz 

and 900 MHz bands. The 900 MHz SMR 

auction began on December 5, 1995, and 

closed on April 15, 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 began on October 28, 1997, 

and was completed on December 8, 

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.139 A second auction for the 800 

MHz band was held on January 10, 2002 

and closed on January 17, 2002 and 

included 23 BEA licenses. One bidder 

claiming small business status won five 

licenses.140

81. The auction of the 1,053 800 MHz 

SMR geographic area licenses for the 

General Category channels began on 

August 16, 2000, and was completed on 

September 1, 2000. Eleven bidders won 

108 geographic area licenses for the 

General Category channels in the 800 

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141 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). 

142 See ‘‘800 MHz SMR Service Lower 80 

Channels Auction Closes; Winning Bidders 

Announced,’’ Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 1736 

(2000). 

143 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

144 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). 

145 Id. at 11068, paras. 291. 

146 Id. 

147 See Letter to Daniel Phythyon, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, (Jan. 6, 1998). 

148 See generally ‘‘220 MHz Service Auction 

Closes,’’ Public Notice, 14 FCC Rcd 605 (1998). 

149 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). 

150 See ‘‘Phase II 220 MHz Service Spectrum 

Auction Closes,’’ Public Notice, 14 FCC Rcd 11218 

(1999). 

151 See ‘‘Multi-Radio Service Auction Closes,’’ 

Public Notice, 17 FCC Rcd 1446 (2002). 

152 See 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

153 See generally 13 CFR 121.201. 

154 Federal Communications Commission, 60th 

Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1994, at para. 116. 

155 See 47 CFR 101 et seq. (formerly, Part 21 of 

the Commission’s Rules) for common carrier fixed 

microwave services (except Multipoint Distribution 

Service). 

156 Persons eligible under parts 80 and 90 of the 

Commission’s Rules can use Private OperationalFixed Microwave services. See 47 CFR Parts 80 and 

90. Stations in this service are called operationalfixed 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. 

157 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. 

MHz SMR band qualified as small 

businesses under the $15 million size 

standard.141 In an auction completed on 

December 5, 2000, a total of 2,800 

Economic Area licenses in the lower 80 

channels of the 800 MHz SMR service 

were sold.142 Of the 22 winning bidders, 

19 claimed small business status and 

won 129 licenses. Thus, combining all 

three auctions, 40 winning bidders for 

geographic licenses in the 800 MHz 

SMR band claimed status as small 

business. 

82. 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. 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. 

83. 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 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications’’ companies. This 

category provides that a small business 

is a wireless company employing no 

more than 1,500 persons.143 The 

Commission estimates that most such 

licensees are small businesses under the 

SBA’s small business standard. For 

census data on these entities, see 

paragraph 65, supra. 

84. 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 is a new 

service, and is subject to spectrum 

auctions. In the 220 MHz Third Report 

and Order, we 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.144 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.145 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.146 The 

SBA has approved these small size 

standards.147 Auctions of Phase II 

licenses commenced on September 15, 

1998, and closed on October 22, 

1998.148 In the first auction, 908 

licenses were auctioned 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.149 Thirty-nine small businesses 

won 373 licenses in the first 220 MHz 

auction. A second auction included 225 

licenses: 216 EA licenses and 9 EAG 

licenses. Fourteen companies claiming 

small business status won 158 

licenses.150 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.151

85. 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, ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Wireless Telecommunications.’’ This 

definition provides that a small entity is 

any such entity employing no more than 

1,500 persons.152 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.153

86. The Commission’s 1994 Annual 

Report on PLMRs 154 indicates that at 

the end of fiscal year 1994, there were 

1,087,267 licensees operating 

12,481,989 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 the revised rules in this context 

could therefore potentially impact small 

entities covering a great variety of 

industries. 

87. Fixed Microwave Services. Fixed 

microwave services include common 

carrier,155 private operational-fixed,156

and broadcast auxiliary radio 

services.157 At present, there are 

approximately 22,015 common carrier 

fixed licensees and 61,670 private 

operational-fixed licensees and 

broadcast auxiliary radio licensees in 

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158 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

159 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). 

160 Id. 

161 See Letter to Kathleen O’Brien Ham, Chief, 

Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA (Feb. 4, 1998); See 

Letter to Margaret Wiener, Chief, Auctions and 

Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Hector 

Barreto, Administrator, SBA, (Jan. 18, 2002). 

162 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). 163 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). 164 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). 165 See Letter to Dan Phythyon, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA (Jan. 6, 1998). 166 See ‘‘Interactive Video and Data Service 

(IVDS) Applications Accepted for Filing,’’ Public 

Notice, 9 FCC Rcd 6227 (1994). 

167 Implementation of Section 309(j) of the 

Communications Act—Competitive Bidding, Fourth 

Report and Order, 9 FCC Rcd 2330 (1994). 

168 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). 

169 Id. 

170 See Letter to Daniel Phythyon, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, (Jan. 6, 1998). 

171 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); see also 47 

CFR 90.1103. 

172 Amendment of Part 90 of the Commission’s 

Rules to Adopt Regulations for Automatic Vehicle 

Monitoring Systems, Second Report and Order, 13 

FCC Rcd at 15192, para. 20; see also 47 CFR 

90.1103. 

173 See Letter to Thomas Sugrue, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, from Aida Alvarez, 

Administrator, Small Business Administration, 

dated Feb. 22, 1999. 

the 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 ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Telecommunications,’’ which is 1,500 

or fewer employees.158 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. 

88. 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.159 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.160 The SBA has 

approved these small business size 

standards.161 The auction of the 2,173 

39 GHz licenses began on April 12, 2000 

and closed on May 8, 2000. The 18 

bidders who claimed small business 

status won 849 licenses. 

89. 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.162 The auction of 

the 986 Local Multipoint Distribution 

Service (LMDS) licenses began on 

February 18, 1998 and closed on March 

25, 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.163

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.164 The 

SBA has approved these small business 

size standards in the context of LMDS 

auctions.165 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. On 

March 27, 1999, the Commission reauctioned 161 licenses; there were 32 

small and very small business winning 

that won 119 licenses. 

90. 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).166 Of the 594 licenses, 567 

were won by 167 entities qualifying as 

a small business. For that auction, we 

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.167 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.168 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.169 The SBA 

has approved of these definitions.170 A 

subsequent auction is not yet scheduled. 

Given the success of small businesses in 

the previous auction, and the 

prevalence of small businesses in the 

subscription television services and 

message communications industries, we 

assume for purposes of this analysis that 

in future auctions, many, and perhaps 

most, of the licenses may be awarded to 

small businesses. 

91. 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.171 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.172 These 

definitions have been approved by the 

SBA.173 An auction for LMS licenses 

commenced on February 23, 1999, and 

closed on March 5, 1999. Of the 528 

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174 The service is defined in section 22.99 of the 

Commission’s Rules, 47 CFR 22.99. 175 BETRS is defined in sections 22.757 and 

22.759 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 CFR 22.757 

and 22.759. 176 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 177 The service is defined in 22.99 of the 

Commission’s Rules, 47 CFR 22.99. 178 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 517212. 179 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). 180 Id. 181 See Letter from Hector V. Barreto, 

Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, 

to Gary D. Michaels, Deputy Chief, Auctions and 

Spectrum Access Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, dated September 19, 

2005. 

182 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

183 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). 

184 This service is governed by Subpart I of Part 

22 of the Commission’s Rules. See 47 CFR 22.1001– 

22.1037. 

185 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

186 Id. 

187 See Amendment of the Commission’s Rules 

Regarding Multiple Address Systems, Report and 

Order, 15 FCC Rcd 11956, 12008, para. 123 (2000). 

188 Id. 

189 See Letter to Thomas Sugrue, Chief, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Aida 

Alvarez, Administrator, SBA, (June 4, 1999). 

190 See ‘‘Multiple Address Systems Spectrum 

Auction Closes,’’ Public Notice, 16 FCC Rcd 21011 

(2001). 

licenses auctioned, 289 licenses were 

sold to four small businesses. 

92. Rural Radiotelephone Service. The 

Commission has not adopted a size 

standard for small businesses specific to 

the Rural Radiotelephone Service.174 A 

significant subset of the Rural 

Radiotelephone Service is the Basic 

Exchange Telephone Radio System 

(BETRS).175 In the present context, we 

will use the SBA’s small business size 

standard applicable to ‘‘Cellular and 

Other Wireless Telecommunications,’’ 

i.e., an entity employing no more than 

1,500 persons.176 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 the rules and 

policies proposed herein. 

93. Air-Ground Radiotelephone 

Service.177 We have previously used the 

SBA’s small business definition 

applicable to ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Wireless Telecommunications,’’ i.e., an 

entity employing no more than 1,500 

persons.178 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 purpose 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.179 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.180 These 

definitions were approved by the 

SBA.181 In May 2006, the Commission 

completed an auction of nationwide 

commercial Air-Ground Radiotelephone 

Service licenses in the 800 MHz band 

(Auction No. 65). On June 2, 2006, the 

auction closed with two winning 

bidders winning two Air-Ground 

Radiotelephone Service licenses. 

Neither of the winning bidders claimed 

small business status. 

94. Aviation and Marine Radio 

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, we will use the SBA small 

business size standard for the category 

‘‘Cellular and Other 

Telecommunications,’’ which is 1,500 

or fewer employees.182 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.183 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. 

95. 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.184 There are presently 

approximately 55 licensees in this 

service. We are unable to estimate at 

this time the number of licensees that 

would qualify as small under the SBA’s 

small business size standard for 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications’’ services.185

Under that SBA small business size 

standard, a business is small if it has 

1,500 or fewer employees.186

96. Multiple Address Systems (MAS). 

Entities using MAS spectrum, in 

general, fall into two categories: (1) 

Those using the spectrum for profitbased uses, and (2) those using the 

spectrum for private internal uses. With 

respect to the first category, the 

Commission defines ‘‘small entity’’ for 

MAS licenses as an entity that has 

average gross revenues of less than $15 

million in the three previous calendar 

years.187 ‘‘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.188 The 

SBA has approved of these 

definitions.189 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 January 20, 1999, 

there were a total of 8,670 MAS station 

authorizations. Of these, 260 

authorizations were associated with 

common carrier service. In addition, an 

auction for 5,104 MAS licenses in 176 

EAs began November 14, 2001, and 

closed on November 27, 2001.190 Seven 

winning bidders claimed status as small 

or very small businesses and won 611 

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191 See 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

192 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

193 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). 

194 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.’’ 

195 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). 

196 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.’’ 

197 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. 

198 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). 

199 24 GHz Report and Order, 15 FCC Rcd at 

16967, para. 77; see also 47 CFR 101.538(a)(1). 

200 See Letter to Margaret W. Wiener, Deputy 

Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from 

Gary M. Jackson, Assistant Administrator, SBA, 

(July 28, 2000). 

201 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, Report 

and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 9589, 9593, para. 7 (1995) 

(MDS Auction R&O). 

202 47 CFR 21.961(b)(1). 

203 See Letter to Margaret Wiener, Chief, Auctions 

and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC, from Gary 

Jackson, Assistant Administrator for Size Standards, 

SBA, (March 20, 2003) (noting approval of $40 

million size standard for MDS auction). 

204 Basic Trading Areas (BTAs) were designed by 

Rand McNally and are the geographic areas by 

which MDS was auctioned and authorized. See 

MDS Auction R&O, 10 FCC Rcd at 9608, para. 34 

(1995). 

205 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

206 Id. 

licenses. On May 18, 2005, the 

Commission completed an auction 

(Auction No. 59) of 4,226 Multiple 

Address Systems (MAS) licenses in the 

Fixed Microwave Services from the 928/ 

959 and 932/941 MHz bands. Twentysix 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. 

97. With respect to the second 

category, which consists of 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 ‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications’’. This definition 

provides that a small entity is any such 

entity employing no more than 1,500 

persons.191 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. 

98. 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 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications’’ companies. This 

category provides that such a company 

is small if it employs no more than 

1,500 persons.192 For the census 

category of Paging, Census Bureau data 

for 2002 show that there were 807 firms 

in this category that operated for the 

entire year.193 Of this total, 804 firms 

had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and three firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more.194 Thus, under this category and 

associated small business size standard, 

the majority of firms can be considered 

small. For the census category of 

Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications, Census Bureau 

data for 2002 show that there were 1,397 

firms in this category that operated for 

the entire year.195 Of this total, 1,378 

firms had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and 19 firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or 

more.196 Thus, under this second 

category and size standard, the majority 

of firms can, again, be considered small. 

These 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 197 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. Thus, only one incumbent 

licensee in the 24 GHz band is a small 

business entity. 

99. 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 $15 

million.198 ‘‘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.199 The SBA has approved 

these definitions.200 The Commission 

will not know how many licensees will 

be small or very small businesses until 

the auction, if required, is held. 

100. Multipoint Distribution Service, 

Multichannel Multipoint Distribution 

Service, and Instructional Television 

Fixed Service. Multichannel Multipoint 

Distribution Service (MMDS) systems, 

often referred to as ‘‘wireless cable,’’ 

transmit video programming to 

subscribers using the microwave 

frequencies of the Multipoint 

Distribution Service (MDS) and 

Instructional Television Fixed Service 

(ITFS).201 In connection with the 1996 

MDS auction, the Commission defined 

‘‘small business’’ as an entity that, 

together with its affiliates, has average 

gross annual revenues that are not more 

than $40 million for the preceding three 

calendar years.202 The SBA has 

approved of this standard.203 The MDS 

auction resulted in 67 successful 

bidders obtaining licensing 

opportunities for 493 Basic Trading 

Areas (BTAs).204 Of the 67 auction 

winners, 61 claimed status as a small 

business. At this time, we estimate that 

of the 61 small business MDS auction 

winners, 48 remain small business 

licensees. In addition to the 48 small 

businesses that hold BTA 

authorizations, there are approximately 

392 incumbent MDS licensees that have 

gross revenues that are not more than 

$40 million and are thus considered 

small entities. In addition, hundreds of 

‘‘pre-auction stations’’ were licensed to 

incumbent MDS licensees prior to 

implementation of 309(j) of the 

Commissions Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. 

309(j). 

101. In addition, the SBA has 

developed a small business size 

standard for Cable and Other Program 

Distribution,205 which includes all such 

companies generating $12.5 million or 

less in annual receipts.206 The Census 

Bureau defines this category as follows: 

‘‘This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged as 

third-party distribution systems for 

broadcast programming. The 

establishments of this industry deliver 

visual, aural, or textual programming 

received from cable networks, local 

television stations, or radio networks to 

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207 U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517510 Cable and Other Program Distribution’’; 

http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/ 

NDEF517.HTM. 208 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 209 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). 210 Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 211 In addition, the term ‘‘small entity’’ under 

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 ITFS licensees. 

212 U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘515120 Television Broadcasting’’ (partial 

definition); http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/ 

def/NDEF515.HTM. 

213 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 515120. 

214 ‘‘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 

to power to control both.’’ 13 CFR 21.103(a)(1). 

215 FCC News Release, ‘‘Broadcast Station Totals 

as of September 30, 2005.’’ 

216 See OMB, North American Industry 

Classification System: United States, 1997, at 509 

(1997) (Radio Stations) (NAICS code 515112). 

217 Id. 

218 ‘‘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 121.103(a)(1). 

219 ‘‘SBA counts the receipts or employees of the 

concern whose size is at issue and those of all its 

domestic and foreign affiliates, regardless of 

whether the affiliates are organized for profit, in 

determining the concern’s size.’’ 13 CFR 121(a)(4). 

220 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 513111 and 

513112. 

221 FCC News Release, ‘‘Broadcast Station Totals 

as of September 30, 2004.’’ 

222 15 U.S.C. 632. 

consumers via cable or direct-to-home 

satellite systems on a subscription or fee 

basis. These establishments do not 

generally originate programming 

material.’’ 207 The SBA has developed a 

small business size standard for Cable 

and Other Program Distribution, which 

is: All such firms having $13.5 million 

or less in annual receipts.208 According 

to Census Bureau data for 2002, there 

were a total of 1,191 firms in this 

category that operated for the entire 

year.209 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.210

Thus, under this size standard, the 

majority of firms can be considered 

small. 

102. Finally, concerning ITFS, we 

note that educational institutions are 

included in this analysis as small 

entities.211 There are currently 2,032 

ITFS licensees, and all but 100 of these 

licenses are held by educational 

institutions. Thus, we tentatively 

conclude that at least 1,932 ITFS 

licensees are small businesses. 

103. Television Broadcasting. The 

Census Bureau defines this category as 

follows: ‘‘This industry 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.’’212 The SBA has created a small 

business size standard for Television 

Broadcasting entities, which is: Such 

firms having $13 million or less in 

annual receipts.213 According to 

Commission staff review of the BIA 

Publications, Inc., Master Access 

Television Analyzer Database as of May 

16, 2003, about 814 of the 1,220 

commercial television stations in the 

United States had revenues of $12 

(twelve) million or less. We note, 

however, that in assessing whether a 

business concern qualifies as small 

under the above definition, business 

(control) affiliations 214 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. 

104. 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 do not exclude any television 

station from the definition of a small 

business on this basis and are therefore 

over-inclusive to that extent. Also as 

noted, an additional element of the 

definition of ‘‘small business’’ is that the 

entity must be independently owned 

and operated. We note that it is difficult 

at times to assess these criteria in the 

context of media entities and our 

estimates of small businesses to which 

they apply may be over-inclusive to this 

extent. 

105. There are also 2,117 low power 

television stations (LPTV).215 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. 

106. Radio Broadcasting. The SBA 

defines a radio broadcast entity that has 

$6 million or less in annual receipts as 

a small business.216 Business concerns 

included in this industry are those 

‘‘primarily engaged in broadcasting 

aural programs by radio to the 

public.’’217 According to Commission 

staff review of the BIA Publications, 

Inc., Master Access Radio Analyzer 

Database, as of May 16, 2003, about 

10,427 of the 10,945 commercial radio 

stations in the United States have 

revenue of $6 million or less. We note, 

however, that many radio stations are 

affiliated with much larger corporations 

with much higher revenue, and that in 

assessing whether a business concern 

qualifies as small under the above 

definition, such business (control) 

affiliations 218 are included.219 Our 

estimate, therefore likely overstates the 

number of small businesses that might 

be affected by our action. 

107. 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.220

108. The Commission estimates that 

there are approximately 3,868 FM 

translators and boosters.221 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 ($6.5 million for a 

radio station or $13.0 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.222

109. Cable and Other Program 

Distribution. The Census Bureau defines 

this category as follows: ‘‘This industry 

comprises establishments primarily 

engaged as third-party distribution 

systems for broadcast programming. The 

establishments of this industry deliver 

visual, aural, or textual programming 

received from cable networks, local 

television stations, or radio networks to 

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223 U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517510 Cable and Other Program Distribution’’; 

http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/def/ 

NDEF517.HTM. 

224 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

225 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). 

226 Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

227 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). 

228 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. 

229 47 CFR 76.901(c). 

230 Warren Communications News, Television & 

Cable Factbook 2006, ‘‘U.S. Cable Systems by 

Subscriber Size,’’ page F–2 (data current as of Oct. 

2005). The data do not include 718 systems for 

which classifying data were not available. 

231 47 U.S.C. 543(m)(2); see 47 CFR 76.901(f) & 

nn. 1–3. 232 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) 233 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. 234 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). 

235 See 47 U.S.C. 573. 

236 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

237 See http://www.fcc.gov/csb/ovs/csovscer.html 

(current as of March 2002). 

238 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

239 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). 

240 Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

241 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 Boradcast 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). 

242 See Letter from Hector V. Barreto, 

Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, 

to Margaret W. Wiener, Chief, Auctions and 

Continued 

consumers via cable or direct-to-home 

satellite systems on a subscription or fee 

basis. These establishments do not 

generally originate programming 

material.’’223 The SBA has developed a 

small business size standard for Cable 

and Other Program Distribution, which 

is: All such firms having $13.5 million 

or less in annual receipts.224 According 

to Census Bureau data for 2002, there 

were a total of 1,191 firms in this 

category that operated for the entire 

year.225 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.226

Thus, under this size standard, the 

majority of firms can be considered 

small. 

110. 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.227

Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 

cable operators nationwide, all but 

eleven are small under this size 

standard.228 In addition, under the 

Commission’s rules, a ‘‘small system’’ is 

a cable system serving 15,000 or fewer 

subscribers.229 Industry data indicate 

that, of 7,208 systems nationwide, 6,139 

systems have under 10,000 subscribers, 

and an additional 379 systems have 

10,000–19,999 subscribers.230 Thus, 

under this second size standard, most 

cable systems are small. 

111. 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.’’231 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.232

Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 

cable operators nationwide, all but ten 

are small under this size standard.233

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,234 and therefore we are unable 

to estimate more accurately the number 

of cable system operators that would 

qualify as small under this size 

standard. 

112. Open Video Services. Open 

Video Service (OVS) systems provide 

subscription services.235 The SBA has 

created a small business size standard 

for Cable and Other Program 

Distribution.236 This standard provides 

that a small entity is one with $13.5 

million or less in annual receipts. The 

Commission has certified approximately 

25 OVS operators to serve 75 areas, and 

some of these are currently providing 

service.237 Affiliates of Residential 

Communications Network, Inc. (RCN) 

received approval to operate OVS 

systems in New York City, Boston, 

Washington, D.C., and other areas. RCN 

has sufficient revenues to assure that 

they do not qualify as a small business 

entity. Little financial information is 

available for the other entities that are 

authorized to provide OVS and are not 

yet operational. Given that some entities 

authorized to provide OVS service have 

not yet begun to generate revenues, the 

Commission concludes that up to 24 

OVS operators (those remaining) might 

qualify as small businesses that may be 

affected by the rules and policies 

proposed herein. 

113. Cable Television Relay Service. 

This service includes transmitters 

generally used to relay cable 

programming within cable television 

system distribution systems. The SBA 

has developed a small business size 

standard for Cable and Other Program 

Distribution, which is: All such firms 

having $13.5 million or less in annual 

receipts.238 According to Census Bureau 

data for 2002, there were a total of 1,191 

firms in this category that operated for 

the entire year.239 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.240 Thus, under this size 

standard, the majority of firms can be 

considered small. 

114. 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.241 These definitions were 

approved by the SBA.242 On January 27, 

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24232 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 

Communications Commission, dated February 13, 

2002. 

243 See ‘‘Multichannel Video Distribution and 

Data Service Auction Closes,’’ Public Notice, 19 

FCC Rcd 1834 (2004). 

244 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). 

245 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

246 Amendment of the Commission’s Rules 

Concerning Maritime Communications, Third 

Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and 

Order, 13 FCC Rcd 19853 (1998). 

247 47 CFR Part 90. 

248 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. 

249 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS Code 517212. 

250 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. 

251 47 CFR 1.1162. 

252 5 U.S.C. 601(5). 

253 The following categories are exempt from the 

Commission’s Schedule of Regulatory Fees: 

Amateur radio licensees (except applicants for 

vanity call signs) and operators in other nonlicensed 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, 

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.243 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.244

115. Amateur Radio Service. These 

licensees are held by individuals in a 

noncommercial capacity; these licensees 

are not small entities. 

116. 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 ‘‘Cellular and Other 

Telecommunications,’’ which is 1,500 

or fewer employees.245 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.246 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. 

117. Personal Radio Services. 

Personal radio services provide shortrange, 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.247 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), Low 

Power Radio Service (LPRS), and MultiUse Radio Service (MURS).248 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 

cellular and other wireless 

telecommunications, pursuant to which 

a small entity is defined as employing 

1,500 or fewer persons.249 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 the 

proposed rules. 

118. Public Safety Radio Services. 

Public Safety radio services include 

police, fire, local government, forestry 

conservation, highway maintenance, 

and emergency medical services.250

There are a total of approximately 

127,540 licensees in these services. 

Governmental entities 251 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.252

IV. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping and Other Compliance 

Requirements 

119. 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 an FCC Form 159 

Remittance Advice, and pay a regulatory 

fee based on the number of licenses or 

call signs.253 Interstate telephone 

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remote pickup stations and aural broadcast 

auxiliary stations where such licenses are used in 

conjunction with commonly owned noncommercial 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. 

254 47 CFR 1.1164. 

255 47 CFR 1.1164(c). 

256 Public Law 104–134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996). 

257 31 U.S.C. 7701(c)(2)(B). 

258 47 CFR 1.1166. 

259 5 U.S.C. 603. 260 47 U.S.C. 159(a). 

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 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, 

and complete and submit an 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 FCC Form 159, and it can 

be completed by the employees 

responsible for an entity’s business 

records. 

120. Each licensee must submit the 

FCC Form 159 to the Commission’s 

lockbox bank after computing the 

number of units subject to the fee. 

Licensees may also file electronically to 

minimize the burden of submitting 

multiple copies of the FCC Form 159. 

Applicants who pay small fees in 

advance and provide fee information as 

part of their application must use FCC 

Form 159. 

121. 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.254 If payment is not received, new 

or pending applications may be 

dismissed, and existing authorizations 

may be subject to rescission.255 Further, 

in accordance with the Debt Collection 

Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA), Public 

Law 194–134, 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.256 Nonpayment of regulatory 

fees is a debt owed 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.257

122. 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.258 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 (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. 

V. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant 

Economic Impact on Small Entities, and 

Significant Alternatives Considered 

123. The RFA requires an agency to 

describe any significant alternatives that 

it has considered in reaching its 

proposed approach, which may include 

the following four alternatives: (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.259 In the NPRM, we 

have 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. 

124. The Omnibus Appropriations 

Act for FY 2007, Public Law 109–383, 

requires the Commission to revise its 

Schedule of Regulatory Fees in order to 

recover the amount of regulatory fees 

that Congress, pursuant to Section 9(a) 

of the Communications Act, as 

amended, has required the Commission 

to collect for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007.260

As noted, we seek comment on the 

proposed methodology for 

implementing these statutory 

requirements and any other potential 

impact of these proposals on small 

entities. 

125. Several categories of licensees 

and regulatees are exempt from payment 

of regulatory fees. See, e.g., footnote 

253, supra. Also, waiver procedures 

provide regulatees, including small 

entity regulatees, relief in exceptional 

circumstances. See Section IV, supra. 

VI. Federal Rules that May Duplicate, 

Overlap, or Conflict with the Proposed 

Rules 

126. None. 

Attachment B—Sources of Payment 

Unit Estimates for FY 2007 

In order to calculate individual 

service fees for FY 2007, we adjusted FY 

2006 payment units for each service to 

more accurately reflect expected FY 

2007 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 tried to obtain verification for 

these estimates from multiple sources 

and, in all cases; we compared FY 2007 

estimates with actual FY 2006 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 

exactly. These include an unknown 

number of waivers and/or exemptions 

that may occur in FY 2007 and the fact 

that, in many services, the number of 

actual licensees or station operators 

fluctuates from time to time due to 

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24234 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

economic, technical or other reasons. 

Therefore, when we note, for example, 

that our estimated FY 2007 payment 

units are based on FY 2006 actual 

payment units, it does not necessarily 

mean that our FY 2007 projection is 

exactly the same number as FY 2006. It 

means that we have either rounded the 

FY 2007 number or adjusted it slightly 

to account for these variables. 

Fee category Sources of payment unit estimates 

Land Mobile (All), Microwave, 218–219 MHz, 

Marine (Ship & Coast), Aviation (Aircraft & 

Ground), GMRS, Amateur Vanity Call Signs, 

Domestic Public Fixed.

Based on Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) projections of new applications and renewals taking into consideration existing Commission licensee databases. Aviation (Aircraft) 

and Marine (Ship) estimates have been adjusted to take into consideration the licensing of 

portions of these services on a voluntary basis. 

CMRS Mobile Services ...................................... Based on Wireless Telecommunications Bureau reports. 

CMRS Messaging Services ................................ Based on Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Competition Report findings.

AM/FM Radio Stations ....................................... Based on CDBS data, adjusted for exemptions, and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

UHF/VHF Television Stations ............................. Based on CDBS data, adjusted for exemptions, and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

AM/FM/TV Construction Permits ........................ Based on CDBS data, adjusted for exemptions, and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

LPTV, Translators and Boosters, Class A Television.Based on CDBS data, adjusted for exemptions, and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

Broadcast Auxiliaries .......................................... Based on actual FY 2006 payment units. 

BRS (formerly MDS/MMDS) ............................... Based on Wireless Telecommunications Bureau reports and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

Cable Television Relay Service (CARS) Stations.Based on data from Media Bureau’s COALS database and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

Cable Television System Subscribers ................ Based on publicly available data sources for estimated subscriber counts and actual FY 2006 

payment units. 

Interstate Telecommunication Service Providers Based on actual FY 2006 interstate revenues reported on Telecommunications Reporting 

Worksheet, adjusted for FY 2007 revenue growth/decline for industry, and projections by the 

Wireline Competition Bureau. 

Earth Stations ..................................................... Based on International Bureau reports and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

Space Stations (GSOs & NGSOs) ..................... Based on International Bureau reports and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

International Bearer Circuits ............................... Based on International Bureau reports and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

International HF Broadcast Stations, International Public Fixed Radio Service.Based on International Bureau reports and actual FY 2006 payment units. 

ATTACHMENT C—CALCULATION OF FY 2007 REVENUE REQUIREMENTS AND PRO-RATA FEES

Fee category FY 2007 

payment units Years 

FY 2006 

revenue estimate 

Pro-rated FY 

2007 revenue 

requirement 261

Computed 

new FY 2007 

regulatory fee 

Rounded new 

FY 2007 

regulatory fee 

Expected FY 

2007 revenue 

PLMRS (Exclusive Use) .. 1,250 10 440,000 426,300 34 35 437,500 

PLMRS (Shared use) ....... 15,500 10 2,500,000 2,422,162 16 15 2,325,000 

Microwave ........................ 4,350 10 1,700,000 1,647,070 38 40 1,740,000 

218–219 MHz (Formerly 

IVDS) ............................ 3 10 1,650 1,599 53 55 1,650 

Marine (Ship) ................... 8,000 10 800,000 775,092 10 10 800,000 

GMRS .............................. 16,000 5 425,000 411,768 5 5 400,000 

Aviation (Aircraft) ............. 8,800 10 300,000 290,659 3 5 440,000 

Marine (Coast) ................. 360 10 120,000 116,264 32 30 108,000 

Aviation (Ground) ............. 1,650 10 150,000 145,330 9 10 165,000 

Amateur Vanity Call Signs 14,700 10 177,116 171,601 1.17 1.17 171,990 

AM Class A ...................... 68 1 217,350 210,428 3,095 3,100 210,800 

AM Class B ...................... 1,567 1 2,619,500 2,534,141 1,617 1,625 2,546,375 

AM Class C ...................... 937 1 921,500 890,541 950 950 890,150 

AM Class D ...................... 1,705 1 3,095,750 2,994,982 1,757 1,750 2,983,750 

FM Classes A, B1 & C3 .. 3,027 1 6,519,500 6,311,615 2,085 2,075 6,281,025 

FM Classes B, C, C0, C1 

& C2 ............................. 3,002 1 7,924,300 7,675,996 2,557 2,550 7,655,100 

AM Construction Permits 65 1 37,525 26,003 400 400 26,000 

FM Construction Permits 262 ................................. 205 1 115,000 117,898 575 575 117,875 

Satellite TV ....................... 125 1 141,450 137,046 1,096 1,100 137,500 

Satellite TV Construction 

Permit ........................... 3 1 1,710 1,657 552 550 1,650 

VHF Markets 1–10 ........... 43 1 2,850,100 2,765,285 64,309 64,300 2,764,900 

VHF Markets 11–25 ......... 61 1 2,914,275 2,827,462 46,352 46,350 2,827,350 

VHF Markets 26–50 ......... 77 1 2,465,625 2,392,781 31,075 31,075 2,392,775 

VHF Markets 51–100 ....... 115 1 2,372,200 2,300,839 20,007 20,000 2,300,000 

VHF Remaining Markets .. 198 1 1,045,200 1,012,657 5,114 5,125 1,014,750 

VHF Construction Permits 3 1 30,600 15,377 5,126 5,125 15,375 

UHF Markets 1–10 ........... 91 1 1,846,750 1,787,645 19,644 19,650 1,788,150 

UHF Markets 11–25 ......... 76 1 1,528,000 1,478,819 19,458 19,450 1,478,200 

UHF Markets 26–50 ......... 115 1 1,284,075 1,242,489 10,804 10,800 1,242,000 

UHF Markets 51–100 ....... 168 1 1,092,000 1,056,977 6,292 6,300 1,058,400 

UHF Remaining Markets 183 1 331,925 321,590 1,757 1,750 320,250 

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261 -0.028369018 factor applied based on the 

amount Congress designated for recovery through 

regulatory fees (Pub. L. 109–108 and 47 U.S.C. 

159(a)(2)). 

262 The AM and 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. 

ATTACHMENT C—CALCULATION OF FY 2007 REVENUE REQUIREMENTS AND PRO-RATA FEES—Continued 

Fee category FY 2007 

payment units Years 

FY 2006 

revenue estimate 

Pro-rated FY 

2007 revenue 

requirement 261

Computed 

new FY 2007 

regulatory fee 

Rounded new 

FY 2007 

regulatory fee 

Expected FY 

2007 revenue 

UHF Construction Permits 1 .................................... 22 1 33,725 38,517 1,751 1,750 38,500 

Broadcast Auxiliaries ....... 27,000 1 240,000 232,528 9 10 270,000 

LPTV/Trans-lators/Boosters/Class A TV ............. 3,400 1 1,218,000 1,180,077 347 345 1,173,000 

CARS Stations ................. 780 1 148,750 144,119 185 185 144,300 

Cable TV Systems ........... 64,500,000 1 49,770,000 48,220,399 0.74760 0.75 48,375,000 

Interstate Tele-communication Service Providers ............................ 51,000,000,000 1 140,184,000 135,819,336 0.00266312 0.00266 135,660,000 

CMRS Mobile Services 

(Cellular/Public Mobile) 229,000,000 1 42,000,000 40,596,052 0.177 0.18 41,220,000 

CMRS Messaging Services ............................... 7,500,000 1 520,000 600,077 0.08 0.08 600,000 

BRS .................................. 1,300 1 485,925 425,139 327 325 422,500 

LMDS ............................... 410 1 90,750 134,077 327 325 133,250 

International Bearer Circuits .............................. 6,500,000 1 7,791,000 7,548,425 1.16 1.16 7,540,000 

International Public Fixed 1 1 1,925 1,865 1,865 1,875 1,875 

Earth Stations .................. 3,900 1 752,500 729,071 187 185 721,500 

International HF Broadcast ............................... 5 1 4,100 3,972 794 795 3,975 

Space Stations (Geostationary) ..................... 86 1 9,693,975 9,392,151 109,211 109,200 9,391,200 

Space Stations (Non-Geostationary ...................... 6 1 721,350 698,891 116,482 116,475 698,850 

****** Total Estimated 

Revenue to be Collected ............................ ............................ ................ 299,624,101 290,274,768 ........................ ........................ 291,035,465 

****** Total Revenue Requirement ...................... ............................ ................ 298,771,000 290,295,160 ........................ ........................ 290,295,160 

Difference ......................... ............................ ................ 853,101 (20,392) ........................ ........................ 740,305 

ATTACHMENT D—PROPOSED FY 2007 SCHEDULE OF REGULATORY FEES

Fee category 

Annual regulatory fee 

(U.S. $’s) 

PLMRS (per license) (Exclusive Use) (47 CFR part 90) .................................................................................................................... 35 

Microwave (per license) (47 CFR part 101) ........................................................................................................................................ 40 

218–219 MHz (Formerly Interactive Video Data Service) (per license) (47 CFR part 95) ................................................................ 55 

Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR part 80) ...................................................................................................................................... 10 

Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR part 80) ................................................................................................................................... 30 

General Mobile Radio Service (per license) (47 CFR part 95) ........................................................................................................... 5 

Rural Radio (47 CFR part 22) (previously listed under the Land Mobile category) ........................................................................... 15 

PLMRS (Shared Use) (per license) (47 CFR part 90) ........................................................................................................................ 15 

Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47 CFR part 87) ................................................................................................................................ 5 

Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47 CFR part 87) ............................................................................................................................... 10 

Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call sign) (47 CFR part 97) ............................................................................................................... 1.17 

CMRS Mobile/Cellular Services (per unit) (47 CFR parts 20, 22, 24, 27, 80 and 90) ....................................................................... .18 

CMRS Messaging Services (per unit) (47 CFR parts 20, 22, 24 and 90) .......................................................................................... .08 

Broadband Radio Service (formerly MMDS/ MDS) (per license) (47 CFR part 21) ........................................................................... 325 

Local Multipoint Distribution Service (per call sign) (47 CFR, part 101) ............................................................................................ 325 

AM Radio Construction Permits .......................................................................................................................................................... 400 

FM Radio Construction Permits .......................................................................................................................................................... 575 

TV (47 CFR part 73) VHF Commercial: 

Markets 1–10 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 64,300 

Markets 11–25 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 46,350 

Markets 26–50 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 31,075 

Markets 51–100 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20,000 

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24236 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

263 47 CFR 73.150 and 73.152. 

264 See Map of Estimated Effective Ground 

Conductivity in the United States, 47 CFR 73.190 

Figure R3. 

ATTACHMENT D—PROPOSED FY 2007 SCHEDULE OF REGULATORY FEES—Continued 

Fee category 

Annual regulatory fee 

(U.S. $’s) 

Remaining Markets ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5,125 

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 5,125 

TV (47 CFR part 73) UHF Commercial: 

Markets 1–10 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 19,650 

Markets 11–25 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 19,450 

Markets 26–50 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 10,800 

Markets 51–100 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 6,300 

Remaining Markets ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1,750 

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 1,750 

Satellite Television Stations (All Markets) ........................................................................................................................................... 1,100 

Construction Permits—Satellite Television Stations ........................................................................................................................... 550 

Low Power TV, Class A TV, TV/FM Translators & Boosters (47 CFR part 74) ................................................................................. 345 

Broadcast Auxiliaries (47 CFR part 74) .............................................................................................................................................. 10 

CARS (47 CFR part 78) ...................................................................................................................................................................... 185 

Cable Television Systems (per subscriber) (47 CFR part 76) ............................................................................................................ .75 

Interstate Telecommunication Service Providers (per revenue dollar) ............................................................................................... .00266 

Earth Stations (47 CFR part 25) ......................................................................................................................................................... 185 

Space Stations (per operational station in geostationary orbit) (47 CFR part 25) also includes DBS Service (per operational station) (47 CFR part 100) .................................................................................................................................................................... 109,200 

Space Stations (per operational system in non-geostationary orbit) (47 CFR part 25) ..................................................................... 116,475 

International Bearer Circuits (per active 64KB circuit) ........................................................................................................................ 1.16 

International Public Fixed (per call sign) (47 CFR part 23) ................................................................................................................ 1,875 

International (HF) Broadcast (47 CFR part 73) ................................................................................................................................... 795 

FY 2007 Schedule of Regulatory Fees 

(continued) 

FY 2007 RADIO STATION REGULATORY FEES

Population Served AM Class A AM Class B AM Class C AM Class D FM Classes 

A, B1 & C3 

FM Classes 

B, C, C0, 

C1 & C2 

<=25,000 .......................................................................... 625 475 400 475 575 725 

25,001—75,000 ................................................................ 1,225 925 600 725 1,150 1,250 

75,001—150,000 .............................................................. 1,825 1,150 800 1,200 1,600 2,300 

150,001—500,000 ............................................................ 2,750 1,950 1,200 1,425 2,475 3,000 

500,001—1,200,000 ......................................................... 3,950 2,975 2,000 2,375 3,900 4,400 

1,200,001—3,000,00 ........................................................ 6,075 4,575 3,000 3,800 6,350 7,025 

≤3,000,000 ....................................................................... 7,275 5,475 3,800 4,750 8,075 9,125 

Attachment 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.263

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 264. 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. 

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 radialspecific ERP figure. The HAAT and ERP 

figures were used in conjunction with 

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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 24237 

265 47 CFR 73.313. 

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.265 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. 

Attachment F—FY 2006 Schedule of 

Regulatory Fees 

Fee category 

Annual regulatory fee 

(U.S. $’s) 

PLMRS (per license) (Exclusive Use) (47 CFR part 90) .................................................................................................................... 20 

Microwave (per license) (47 CFR part 101) ........................................................................................................................................ 85 

218–219 MHz (Formerly Interactive Video Data Service) (per license) (47 CFR part 95) ................................................................ 55 

Marine (Ship) (per station) (47 CFR part 80) ...................................................................................................................................... 10 

Marine (Coast) (per license) (47 CFR part 80) ................................................................................................................................... 20 

General Mobile Radio Service (per license) (47 CFR part 95) ........................................................................................................... 5 

Rural Radio (47 CFR part 22) (previously listed under the Land Mobile category) ........................................................................... 10 

PLMRS (Shared Use) (per license) (47 CFR part 90) ........................................................................................................................ 10 

Aviation (Aircraft) (per station) (47 CFR part 87) ................................................................................................................................ 5 

Aviation (Ground) (per license) (47 CFR part 87) ............................................................................................................................... 10 

Amateur Vanity Call Signs (per call sign) (47 CFR part 97) ............................................................................................................... 2.08 

CMRS Mobile/Cellular Services (per unit) (47 CFR parts 20, 22, 24, 27, 80 and 90) ....................................................................... .20 

CMRS Messaging Services (per unit) (47 CFR parts 20, 22, 24 and 90) .......................................................................................... .08 

Multipoint Distribution Services (MMDS/MDS) (per license sign) (47 CFR part 21) .......................................................................... 275 

Local Multipoint Distribution Service (per call sign) (47 CFR, part 101) ............................................................................................ 275 

AM Radio Construction Permits .......................................................................................................................................................... 395 

FM Radio Construction Permits .......................................................................................................................................................... 575 

TV (47 CFR part 73) VHF Commercial: 

Markets 1–10 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 64,775 

Markets 11–25 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 47,775 

Markets 26–50 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 32,875 

Markets 51–100 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20,450 

Remaining Markets ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5,025 

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 3,400 

TV (47 CFR part 73) UHF Commercial: 

Markets 1–10 ................................................................................................................................................................................ 20,750 

Markets 11–25 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 19,100 

Markets 26–50 .............................................................................................................................................................................. 10,975 

Markets 51–100 ............................................................................................................................................................................ 6,500 

Remaining Markets ....................................................................................................................................................................... 1,775 

Construction Permits .................................................................................................................................................................... 1,775 

Satellite Television Stations (All Markets) ........................................................................................................................................... 1,150 

Construction Permits—Satellite Television Stations ........................................................................................................................... 570 

Low Power TV, TV/FM Translators & Boosters (47 CFR part 74) ..................................................................................................... 420 

Broadcast Auxiliary (47 CFR part 74) ................................................................................................................................................. 10 

CARS (47 CFR part 78) ...................................................................................................................................................................... 175 

Cable Television Systems (per subscriber) (47 CFR part 76) ............................................................................................................ .79 

Interstate Telecommunication Service Providers (per revenue dollar) ............................................................................................... .00264 

Earth Stations (47 CFR part 25) ......................................................................................................................................................... 215 

Space Stations (per operational station in geostationary orbit) (47 CFR part 25) also includes Direct Broadcast Satellite Service 

(per operational station) (47 CFR part 100) .................................................................................................................................... 111,425 

Space Stations (per operational system in non-geostationary orbit) (47 CFR part 25) ..................................................................... 120,225 

International Bearer Circuits (per active 64KB circuit) ........................................................................................................................ 1.47 

International Public Fixed (per call sign) (47 CFR part 23) ................................................................................................................ 1,925 

International (HF) Broadcast (47 CFR part 73) ................................................................................................................................... 820 

FY 2006 Schedule of Regulatory Fees 

(continued) 

FY 2006 RADIO STATION REGULATORY FEES

Population served AM Class A AM Class B AM Class C AM Class D FM Classes 

A, B1 & C3 

FM Classes 

B, C, C0, 

C1 & C2 

<=25,000 .......................................................................... 625 500 400 475 575 750 

25,001–75,000 ................................................................. 1,225 950 600 725 1,150 1,325 

75,001–150,000 ............................................................... 1,850 1,200 800 1,200 1,575 2,450 

150,001–500,000 ............................................................. 2,775 2,025 1,200 1,425 2,450 3,200 

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24238 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 84 / Wednesday, May 2, 2007 / Proposed Rules 

1 In particular, this exemption extends to the 

requirements imposed by Chapter 6 of Title 5, 

United States Code, Section 3 of the Small Business 

Act (15 U.S.C. 632) and Section 3507 and 3512 of 

Title 44, United States Code. Consolidated 

Appropriations Act 2000, Pub. L. 106–113, 113 Stat. 

2502, Appendix E, Sec. 213(a)(4)(A)–(B); see 145 

Cong. Rec. H12493–94 (Nov. 17, 1999); 47 U.S.C.A. 

337 note at Sec. 213(a)(4)(A)–(B). 

FY 2006 RADIO STATION REGULATORY FEES—Continued 

Population served AM Class A AM Class B AM Class C AM Class D FM Classes 

A, B1 & C3 

FM Classes 

B, C, C0, 

C1 & C2 

500,001–1,200,000 .......................................................... 4,000 3,100 2,000 2,375 3,875 4,700 

1,200,001–3,000,00 ......................................................... 6,150 4,750 3,000 3,800 6,325 7,500 

≤3,000,000 ....................................................................... 7,375 5,700 3,800 4,750 8,050 9,750 

[FR Doc. E7–8366 Filed 5–1–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 27 

[WT Docket No. 06–150; CC Docket No. 94– 

102; WT Docket No. 01–309; WT Docket 

No. 03–264; WT Docket No. 06–169; PS 

Docket No. 06–229; WT Docket No. 96–86; 

FCC No. 07–72] 

Service Rules for the 698–806 MHz 

Band and Revision of the 

Commission’s Rules Regarding 

Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling 

Systems, Hearing Aid-Compatible 

Telephones, and Public Safety 

Spectrum Requirements 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: In this Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), the 

Federal Communications Commission 

(FCC) seeks comment on rules 

governing wireless licenses in the 698– 

806 MHz Band (i.e., the 700 MHz Band). 

This spectrum is currently occupied by 

television broadcasters and is being 

made available for wireless services, 

including public safety and commercial 

services, as a result of the digital 

television (‘‘DTV’’) transition. 

DATES: Comments due on or before May 

23, 2007 and reply comments are due on 

or before May 30, 2007. Section 213 of 

the Consolidated Appropriations Act 

2000 provides that rules governing 

frequencies in the 746–806 MHz Band 

are not subject to certain sections of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act.1 The 

Commission is therefore not inviting 

comment on any information collections 

that concern frequencies in the 746–806 

MHz Band. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by WT Docket No. 06–150; CC 

Docket No. 94–102; WT Docket No. 01– 

309; WT Docket No. 03–264; WT Docket 

No. 06–169; PS Docket No. 06–229; WT 

Docket No. 96–86, by any of the 

following methods: <bullet≤ Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. <bullet≤ Federal Communications 

Commission’s Web site: http:// 

www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. <bullet≤ E-mail: Include the docket 

numbers in the subject line of the 

message. <bullet≤ People with Disabilities: 

Contact the FCC to request reasonable 

accommodations (accessible format 

documents, sign language interpreters, 

CART, etc.) by E-mail: FCC504@fcc.gov 

or phone: 202–418–0530 or TTY: 202– 

418–0432. 

For detailed instructions for submitting 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul 

Moon at (202) 418–1793, 

paul.moon@fcc.gov, Mobility Division, 

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; 

Paul D’Ari at (202) 418–1550, 

paul.d’ari@fcc.gov, Spectrum and 

Competition Policy Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau; John 

Evanoff at (202) 418–0848, 

john.evanoff@fcc.gov, Public Safety and 

Homeland Security Bureau. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Further 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(FNPRM), WT Docket No. 06–150; CC 

Docket No. 94–102; WT Docket No. 01– 

309; WT Docket No. 03–264; WT Docket 

No. 06–169; PS Docket No. 06–229; WT 

Docket No. 96–86, FCC No. 07–72, 

adopted April 25, 2007 and released 

April 27, 2007. The full text of the 

FNPRM is available for public 

inspection on the Commission’s Internet 

site at http://www.fcc.gov. It is also 

available for inspection and copying 

during regular business hours in the 

FCC Reference Center (Room CY–A257), 

445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20554. The full text of this document 

also may be purchased from the 

Commission’s duplication contractor, 

Best Copy and Printing Inc., Portals II, 

445 12th St., SW., Room CY–B402, 

Washington, DC 20554; telephone (202) 

488–5300; fax (202) 488–5563; e-mail 

FCC@BCPIWEB.COM. 

Initial Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995 Analysis 

This document contains proposed 

new or modified information collection 

requirements. The Commission, as part 

of its continuing effort to reduce 

paperwork burdens, invites the general 

public and the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) to comment on the 

information collection requirements 

contained in this document, as required 

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 

1995, Public Law 104–13. Public and 

agency comments are due 30 days after 

date of publication in the Federal 

Register. Comments should address: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Commission’s 

burden estimates; (c) ways to enhance 

the quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on the respondents, 

including the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. In addition, 

pursuant to the Small Business 

Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public 

Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4), 

we seek specific comment on how we 

might ‘‘further reduce the information 

collection burden for small business 

concerns with fewer than 25 

employees.’’ In this present document, 

we have assessed the potential effects of 

the various proposals with regard to 

information collection burdens on small 

business concerns, and find that there 

are no results specific to businesses 

with fewer than 25 employees. The 

Commission notes, however, that 

Section 213 of the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act 2000 provides that 

rules governing frequencies in the 746– 

806 MHz Band become effective 

immediately upon publication in the 

Federal Register without regard to 

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