Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 26, 2008 / Proposed Rules 50285 

1See 47 CFR 1.1206(b)(2). 

contract, grant under a contract, 

memorandum of understanding or other 

funding or employment instrument or 

contract prior to the end of its term and 

recovery of appropriated funds expended 

prior to termination. I further certify that the 

sub-recipient will submit all certifications to 

the recipient entity through which it received 

Department funds. 

(e) Exceptions. Provided that such 

individuals or organizations are not 

recipients or sub-recipients of 

Department funds through another 

instrument, program, or mechanism, 

other than those set forth in paragraphs 

(e)(1) through (3) of this section, the 

following individuals or organizations 

shall not be required to comply with the 

written certification requirement set 

forth in this section: 

(1) A physician, as defined in 42 

U.S.C. 1395(r), physician office, or other 

health care practitioner participating in 

Part B of the Medicare program; 

(2) A physician, as defined in 42 

U.S.C. 1395(r), physician office, or other 

health care practitioner which 

participates in Part B of the Medicare 

program, when such individuals or 

organizations are sub-recipients of 

Department funds through a Medicare 

Advantage plan; or 

(3) A sub-recipient of Department 

funds through a State Medicaid 

program. 

Dated: August 20, 2008. 

Michael O. Leavitt, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–19744 Filed 8–21–08; 2:00 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4150–28–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 1 

[MD Docket No. 08–65; FCC 08–182] 

Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2008 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, we seek 

comment on changes to the regulatory 

fee schedule and methodology. 

DATES: Comments are due September 

25, 2008, and reply comments are due 

October 27, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by MD Docket No. 08–65, by 

any of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Federal Communications 

Commission’s Web Site: http:// 

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

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: ecfs@fcc.gov. Include MD 

Docket No. 08–65 in the subject line of 

the message. 

• 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. 

• People with Disabilities: Contact the 

FCC to request reasonable 

accommodations (accessible format 

documents, sign language interpreters, 

CART, etc.) by email: FCC504@fcc.gov 

or phone: (202) 418–0530 or TTY (202) 

418–0432. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

CORES Helpdesk at (877) 480–3201, 

option 4 or ARINQUIRIES@fcc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

summary of the Commission’s Further 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MD 

Docket No. 08–65, FCC 08–182 adopted 

on August 1, 2008 and released on 

August 8, 2008. The full text of this 

document is available is available for 

inspection and copying during normal 

business hours in the FCC Reference 

Center (Room CY–A257), 445 12th 

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. The 

complete text of this document also may 

be purchased from the Commission’s 

copy contractor, Best Copy and Printing, 

Inc., 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY–

B402, Washington, DC 20554. The full 

text may also be downloaded at http:// 

www.fcc.gov. 

Pursuant to sections 1.1206(b), 1.1202 

and 1.1203 of the Commission’s rules, 

CFR 1.1206(b), 1.1202, 1.1203, this is as 

a ‘‘permit-but-disclose’’ proceeding. 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 

required.1 Additional rules pertaining to 

oral and written presentations are set 

forth in section 1.1206(b). 

Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 

of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR 

1.415, 1.419, 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. See Electronic Filing of 

Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 

63 FR 24121 (1998), 13 FCC Rcd 11322 

(1998). 

• 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. 

• 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. 

• The Commission’s contractor will 

receive hand-delivered or messengerdelivered 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. 

• 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. 


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2 47 U.S.C. 159(a). 

3 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(1)(A). 

4See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory 

Fees for Fiscal Year 1997, MD Docket No. 96–186, 

Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 17161, 17170–71, 

para. 23 (1997) (‘‘FY 1997 Report and Order’’). 

Regulatory fees also recover costs attributable to 

regulatees that Congress has exempted from the fees 

as well as costs attributable to licensees granted fee 

waivers. FY 1997 Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 

17170, para. 22. 5See, e.g., Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2008, Public Law 110–161. 

6 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(4)(B). 

7 47 U.S.C. 159(b)(3). 

8 FY 2004 Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd at 

11666, para. 9. 

• U.S. Postal Service first-class, 

Express, and Priority mail should be 

addressed to 445 12th Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. 

• People with Disabilities: To request 

information in accessible formats for 

people with disabilities (Braille, large 

print, electronic files, audio format), 

send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call 

the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental 

Affairs Bureau at (202) 418–0530 

(voice), (202) 418–0432 (TTY). 

Table of Contents 

Heading Paragraph No. 

I. FURTHER NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING ..................................................................................................................... 1 

A. Background ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 

B. Discussion ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 

1. Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (‘‘ITSPs’’) ........................................................................................ 14 

2. International and Interstate Toll Services ...................................................................................................................... 18 

3. Regulatory Fee Obligations for Digital Broadcasters ..................................................................................................... 20 

4. Per-Subscriber Fees for Video Services in Addition to Cable Television Operators .................................................. 23 

a. Internet Protocol TV (‘‘IPTV’’) ................................................................................................................................. 24 

b. Direct Broadcast Service (‘‘DBS’’) Providers ........................................................................................................... 26 

5. Cable Television Services—Calculation of Subscriber Numbers .................................................................................. 27 

6. Private Land Mobile Radio Services (‘‘PLMRS’’) ........................................................................................................... 29 

7. Other Telecommunications Services .............................................................................................................................. 30 

II. ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES ..................................................................................................................... 35 

A. Use of Fee Filer ...................................................................................................................................................................... 36 

B. Proposals for Notification and Collection of Regulatory Fees ............................................................................................. 39 

1. Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers ......................................................................................................... 42 

2. Satellite Space Station Licensees .................................................................................................................................... 43 

3. Media Services Licensees ................................................................................................................................................ 44 

4. Commercial Mobile Radio Service Cellular and Mobile Services Assessments .......................................................... 45 

5. Cable Television Subscribers .......................................................................................................................................... 48 

6. Streamlined Regulatory Fee Payment Process for CMRS Cellular and Mobile Providers .......................................... 49 

III. PROCEDURAL MATTERS ........................................................................................................................................................... 50 

A. Payment of Regulatory Fees ................................................................................................................................................... 50 

1. De Minimis Fee Payment Liability ................................................................................................................................. 50 

2. Standard Fee Calculations and Payment Dates .............................................................................................................. 51 

a. Media Services .......................................................................................................................................................... 52 

b. Wireline (Common Carrier) Services ....................................................................................................................... 53 

c. Wireless Services ...................................................................................................................................................... 54 

d. Multichannel Video Programming Distributor Services (cable television operators and CARS licensees) ....... 56 

e. International Services ............................................................................................................................................... 57 

B. Enforcement ............................................................................................................................................................................ 58 

C. Final Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 Analysis ............................................................................................................... 61 

D. Congressional Review Act Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 62 

E. Ex Parte Rules ......................................................................................................................................................................... 63 

F. Filing Requirements ................................................................................................................................................................ 64 

IV. ORDERING CLAUSES .................................................................................................................................................................. 69 

APPENDIX Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.

I. Further Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking 

A. Background 

1. Each year Congress requires the 

Commission to collect regulatory fees 

‘‘to recover the costs of * * * 

enforcement activities, policy and 

rulemaking activities, user information 

services, and international activities.’’ 2

The Act states that fees are to ‘‘be 

derived by determining the full-time 

equivalent number of employees 

performing’’ these activities ‘‘adjusted to 

take into account factors that are 

reasonably related to the benefits 

provided to the payer of the fee by the 

Commission’s activities * * *.’’ 3

Regulatory fees recover: direct costs, 

such as salary and expenses; indirect 

costs, such as overhead functions; and 

support costs, such as rent, utilities, or 

equipment.4 Congress sets the amount 

the Commission collects each year in 

the annual appropriations law.5

2. Section 9 requires the Commission 

to make certain changes to the 

regulatory fee schedule ‘‘if the 

Commission determines that the 

schedule requires amendment to 

comply with the requirements’’ of 

section 9(b)(1)(A), cited above. The 

Commission must add, delete, or 

reclassify services in the fee schedule to 

reflect additions, deletions, or changes 

in the nature of its services ‘‘as a 

consequence of Commission rulemaking 

proceedings or changes in law.’’ These 

‘‘permitted amendments’’ require 

Congressional notification 6 and 

resulting changes in fees are not subject 

to judicial review. 7 Neither of these 

provisions requires amendment of the 

fee schedule to mirror all changes in 

regulatory costs.8

3. To calculate regulatory fees, the 

Commission allocates the total 

collection target, as mandated by 

Congress each year, to each regulatory 

fee category. Each regulatee within a fee 

category must pay its proportionate 

share based on some objective measure, 

e.g. , revenues or subscribers. The first 

step, allocating fees to fee categories, is 

based on the Commission’s 1994 

calculation of full time employees 

(‘‘FTEs’’) devoted to each regulatory fee 

category. We recognize that the 

communications industry has changed 


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9See Implementation of Section 9 of the 

Communications Act, Report and Order, 9 FCC Rcd 

5333 (1994). 

10See, e.g., Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2004, MD Docket 

No. 04–146, Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd 11662, 

11665–67, para. 5–11 (2004) (‘‘FY 2004 Report and 

Order’’). 

11See, e.g., FY 1997 Report and Order, 12 FCC 

Rcd at 17171–72, para. 27. 

12FY 2004 Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd at 

11666, para. 8. 

13 Id. 

considerably since we adopted our 

regulatory fee schedule in 1994.9

Services such as wireless, broadband, 

and voice over Internet protocol 

(‘‘VoIP’’) have exploded in growth in 

recent years. The Commission itself has 

reorganized several times since 1994 to 

reflect industry changes. 

4. As the following charts show, 

regulatory fee burdens have shifted 

significantly since 1995: 

Source: Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 1995, 

Report and Order, 60 FR 34004, June 29, 

1995. (FY 2005 was the first year in 

which payment units were included in 

the Report and Order.) 

Source: Percentages and dollar 

amounts based on preliminary 

calculations while drafting the 

Assessment and Collection of 

Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2008, 

Report and Order and Further Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking. 

5. Historically, and in this year’s 

proceeding, parties have challenged the 

Commission’s regulatory fees for certain 

categories of services by claiming that 

the fees are not appropriately based on 

the Commission’s regulatory costs.10

Regulatory fees cannot, however, be 

precisely calibrated, on a service-byservice basis, to the actual costs of the 

Commission’s regulatory activities for 

that service.11 The initial Schedule of 

Regulatory Fees that Congress enacted 

in section 9(g) reflects this approach. 

Two specific examples are satellite 

regulatory fees and radio and television 

regulatory fees.12 Congress required that 

satellite fees be based on the number of 

satellites the regulatee has in operation; 

however, the number of satellites may 

or may not relate to the actual costs in 

terms of FTEs of regulating that 

particular entity.13 Similarly, radio and 

television fees are based on the size of 

the markets served, which also may 


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14 Id. 

15See Federal Communications Commission 

Fiscal Year 2007 Performance and Accountability 

Report at 31–90 (http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/ 

ar2007.pdf). 

16This is explained in our fact sheet, available at 

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

17See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory 

Fees for Fiscal Year 1995, Report and Order, 60 FR 

34004 at 34025 (Table 4) (June 29, 1995) (‘‘1995’’) 

(‘‘FY 1995 Report and Order’’). 

18 ITSPs generally identify themselves as 

interexchange carriers, incumbent local exchange 

carriers, toll resellers, or some other provider of 

interexchange service on the FCC Form 499–A 

which is filed each year on April 1 with the 

interstate revenues from the previous year; the ITSP 

regulatory fee is based on billed interstate and 

international end-user revenues. 

19See FY 1997 Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd at 

17176, para. 39. 

20 Id., 12 FCC Rcd at 17246. 

21 ITTA Reply Comments at 1–2. 

have no relationship to the 

Commission’s costs.14

6. Notwithstanding that regulatory 

fees cannot be precisely calibrated to 

our actual costs of our regulatory 

activities, there may be several areas in 

which we can revise and improve our 

regulatory fee process to better reflect 

the industry today. Industry, regulatory, 

and Commission organizational changes 

may mean that the FTE estimates the 

Commission has used since 1994 to 

allocate fees to industry segments 

require updating. In addition, certain 

services may be excluded from the 

regulatory fee process because those 

services were not offered when the fee 

schedule was adopted and other 

services may be paying a 

disproportionate share of regulatory fees 

because in the past those services had 

a larger share of the communications 

market. We adopt this FNPRM to 

explore more equitable and reasonable 

approaches to assessing regulatory fees. 

B. Discussion 

7. The regulatory fees assessed each 

year are to recover a fixed amount set 

by Congress. Thus, increasing the 

regulatory fee for one category will 

reduce the fee for the remaining 

categories and vice versa. We seek 

comment on ways to improve our 

regulatory fee process regarding any and 

all categories of service. In light of the 

industry changes since 1994, how can 

we better determine the regulatory fees 

for services in a way that is aligned with 

the Commission’s regulatory activities? 

We seek comment on whether we 

should continue to collect our 

regulatory fees based on the allocations 

noted above for FY 2008, or if we 

should revert to a percentage allocation 

closer to our FY 1995 regulatory fee 

allocation, or if we should adopt a 

different allocation based on the 

communications marketplace that exists 

today. We also seek comment on 

possible methodologies for recalculating the regulatory fee allocation. 

8. Commenters should discuss the fee 

categories that bear a too heavy 

regulatory fee burden. For example, 

some services, such as paging and 

PLMRS, have declining subscriber 

bases. Conversely, we seek comment on 

whether there are categories that should 

pay higher regulatory fees. In addition, 

are there categories that should be 

added, deleted, or reclassified? Would 

such changes result in a system that is 

more (or less) equitable and reasonable? 

9. We also seek comment on whether 

we should review the entire regulatory 

fee process, apart from the annual 

regulatory fee orders, on a periodic 

basis. Should the Commission 

undertake a comprehensive analysis of 

its resource allocations as it did in 

1994? Should the Commission allocate 

regulatory fees to each category based 

on the proportionate use of full time 

equivalent (‘‘FTE’’) within the 

Commission? We seek comment on 

whether we should examine FTE 

allocation by industry segment or some 

other basis, such as strategic goal.15

10. Currently, the Commission uses 

different bases to allocate regulatory fees 

to entities in different regulatory fee 

categories. For example, fees for 

wireless companies are based on 

subscribers and wireline companies are 

based on revenues. Should the 

Commission move to harmonize these 

bases? Would it be more equitable to 

allocate fees on a single basis across all 

regulatory fee categories? Commenters 

should address the incentives or 

disincentives of using a particular basis 

for allocation. For example, do wireless 

companies have less incentive to sign 

up subscribers because each new 

subscriber will increase their regulatory 

fees? 

11. As we discuss below, there are 

various services or entities that may not 

be paying their share of regulatory fees. 

Including more services would lessen 

the regulatory fee burden on the 

remaining regulates. We seek comment 

on whether, and if so how, to include 

additional services. Increasing 

compliance with our rules also would 

lessen the regulatory fee burden on the 

remaining regulatees. We seek comment 

on ways to improve compliance with 

our rules. In addition, we seek comment 

on whether we should adopt additional 

oversight measures, such as an audit 

regime to ascertain that payments are in 

accordance with our rules. 

12. We seek comment on whether we 

should modify our administration of 

regulatory fees, such as our collection 

processes, as well as the forms that we 

use for regulatory fee payors. We seek 

comment on whether we should modify 

our Form 159. Should we use a different 

procedure for billing and prebilling? 

Should our regulatory fee procedures be 

combined with other filing and 

reporting requirements? We seek 

comment on whether we should adopt 

additional performance metrics or 

measurements pertaining to regulatory 

fees. Commenters should discuss 

whether we should adopt additional 

performance measurements and publish 

this information regarding, for example, 

timeliness of payment. We also seek 

comment on whether there are certain 

categories of licensees who should 

qualify for reduced regulatory fees or be 

exempt entirely. 

13. We also invite comment on 

several specific regulatory fee issues 

discussed below. 

1. Interstate Telecommunications 

Service Providers (‘‘ITSPs’’) 

14. ITSPs generally identify 

themselves as interexchange carriers, 

incumbent local exchange carriers, toll 

resellers, or some other provider of 

interexchange service on the FCC Form 

499–A. The FCC Form 499–A is filed 

each year on April 1 with the interstate 

revenues from the previous year; the 

ITSP regulatory fee is based on billed 

interstate and international end-user 

revenues.16

15. In FY 1995, the ITSP fee rate 

amounted to a fee factor of .00088 per 

revenue dollar, representing 

approximately 40 percent of the 

revenues to be collected in FY 1995.17

Carriers were required in FY 1995 to 

multiply their adjusted gross revenues 

(gross revenue reduced by the total 

amount of payments to underlying 

common carriers for 

telecommunications facilities or 

services) by 0.00088 to determine the 

appropriate regulatory fee. In the 

Commission’s FY 1997 regulatory fee 

proceeding, the Commission calculated 

that regulation of ITSPs 18 accounted for 

approximately 36 percent of all 

Commission costs.19 Since FY 1995, the 

ITSP fee factor rate has increased from 

.00088 per revenue dollar to .00266 in 

FY 2007.20

16. ITTA, an association of mid-size 

local exchange carriers, filed comments 

to the FY 2008 NPRM, contending that 

from 1999 to 2008 the Commission’s 

overall budget has increased by 81 

percent yet the percentage of ITSP 

revenues used to support Commission 

activities has nearly tripled.21 ITTA 

contends that regulatory fees for 


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22 ITTA Reply Comments at 2. 

23 ITTA Reply Comments at 4–5. 

24 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14) and 337(e). 

25Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees 

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

and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 15985, 15993, para. 25 

(2003) (‘‘FY 2003 Report and Order’’). 

26See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory 

Fees for Fiscal Year 2005, MD Docket No. 05–59, 

Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 20 

FCC Rcd 12259, 12266–67, para. 23 (2005) (‘‘FY 

2005 Report and Order’’). 

27 47 CFR 1.1153, ‘‘Schedule of annual regulatory 

fees and filing locations for mass media services’’

provides the fee amounts due for television stations 

based on the market where the station is broadcast. 

28The table in section 1.1153 of our rules does, 

however, refer to ‘‘UHF’’ and ‘‘VHF’’. 

29See ‘‘FCC Adopts 13th Annual Report to 

Congress on Video Competition and Notice of 

Inquiry for the 14th Annual Report,’’ MB Docket 

No. 07–269, Press Release, Nov. 27, 2007. 

wireless carriers have decreased and the 

disparity in regulatory fee treatment 

between wireline and wireless services 

continues to widen.22 ITTA 

recommends that the Commission 

extend the process by which it added 

interconnected Voice over Internet 

Protocol (‘‘VoIP’’) providers to the ITSP 

category and also include wireless 

providers in the ITSP category.23 We 

seek comment on this recommendation. 

17. Relative to other services that pay 

regulatory fees, we recognize that the 

ITSP market has changed since the 

Commission calculated the cost of ITSP 

regulation in FY 1997. We agree that it 

is appropriate to review our 

methodology for assessing regulatory 

fees on ITSPs. We seek comment on 

whether ITSPs current share of 

regulatory fees, which has not been 

revised significantly since 1997, is 

appropriate. Commenters should 

discuss the ITSP market and how it has 

changed since 1997 relative to the other 

services that pay regulatory fees such as 

wireless and broadcast services. 

Commenters suggesting a change in the 

proportionate share for ITSPs should 

propose a methodology. For example, 

would it be more appropriate to return 

to the original Schedule of Regulatory 

Fees and assess fees per 1,000 access 

lines? We note that we have 

experienced significant success and 

accuracy with a number-based approach 

for CMRS. Would number of access 

lines be most appropriate? 

2. International and Interstate Toll 

Services 

18. International and interstate toll 

calls can originate from either a wireless 

or a landline telephone; if such calls are 

made from a wireless telephone they are 

considered wireless revenue and not 

interstate or international revenue for 

regulatory fee purposes. Commercial 

mobile radio services (‘‘CMRS’’) 

regulatory fees are determined on a per 

unit basis rather than on a revenue 

basis. For FY 1995, the CMRS regulatory 

fee was $0.15 per unit; for FY 2007, the 

CMRS regulatory fee was $0.18 per unit. 

Thus, international and interstate toll 

calls made on a wireless telephone, 

even if billed separately to the customer 

as international or interstate toll calls, 

are not paid on a revenue basis for 

CMRS regulatory fee purposes, but on a 

subscriber basis. Whereas, international 

and interstate toll calls made on a 

landline telephone are considered 

international and interstate revenue for 

ITSP regulatory fee purposes. We seek 

comment on whether this disparity is 

equitable. 

19. Specifically, we seek comment on 

whether we should include interstate 

and international toll calls made from 

wireless handsets as international and 

interstate revenue for regulatory fee 

purposes. Commenters should also 

discuss whether, for example, a wireless 

international call to Canada or Mexico, 

even though the call would be carried 

for the most part on the wireline 

network, should be considered wireless 

revenue and feeable for CMRS 

regulatory fee purposes. To the extent 

that wireless carriers bill their 

customers a separate charge for the 

international call (apart from minutes), 

should this be considered a call subject 

to regulatory fees regardless of whether 

the call originated from a landline or a 

wireless handset? Commenters should 

discuss why including (or excluding) 

revenues from interstate and 

international calls is reasonable. 

Commenters should also address the 

effect on CMRS and ITSP regulatory fees 

if wireless revenues from interstate and 

international toll calls become subject to 

regulatory fees. We seek comment on 

this proposal. 

3. Regulatory Fee Obligations for Digital 

Broadcasters 

20. After February 17, 2009, fullpower television broadcast stations 

must transmit only in digital signals and 

may no longer transmit analog signals.24

Digital television (‘‘DTV’’) licensees are 

subject to section 8 application fees but 

our current schedule of regulatory fees 

does not include a specific service 

category for digital broadcasters.25

Licensees in the broadcast industry pay 

regulatory fees based on their analog 

facilities. For licensees that broadcast in 

both the analog and digital formats, the 

only regulatory fee obligation at present 

is for their analog facility. A licensee 

that has fully transitioned to digital 

broadcasting and has surrendered its 

analog spectrum currently has no 

regulatory fee obligation. 

21. In our FY 2005 Report and Order 

we stated that we had sought comment 

on whether to establish a regulatory fee 

category for digital broadcasters but 

received no comments on the issue and 

therefore we did not establish regulatory 

fee obligations for digital broadcasters.26

At that time we recognized the 

Commission’s initiatives to transition 

analog broadcasters to digital spectrum 

and that we should address these issues 

from a regulatory fee perspective. We 

seek comment on whether we should 

now establish a specific regulatory fee 

service category for digital broadcasters. 

22. Our rules do not state that 

regulatory fees are required for analog 

licenses only,27 but we have 

consistently assessed regulatory fees on 

analog licenses only.28 We seek 

comment on whether we should clarify 

that regulatory fees are required for 

analog and digital broadcasters, based 

on their markets. We seek comment on 

whether a rule change is necessary 

under these circumstances. We do not 

intend to assess regulatory fees for both 

digital and analog licenses from a 

licensee in the process of transitioning 

from analog to digital. Our goal is to 

efficiently and seamlessly account for 

the collection of fee revenue from digital 

broadcasters without harming early 

transitioners to digital spectrum or late 

transitioners from analog spectrum. We 

seek comment on ways to achieve this 

goal. 

4. Per-Subscriber Fees for Video 

Services in Addition to Cable Television 

Operators 

23. We seek comment on whether 

service providers other than cable 

operators, such as incumbent local 

exchange carriers (ILEC) providing 

video service, should also pay 

regulatory fees on a per-subscriber basis 

or otherwise.29 For example, should 

ILECs as well as cable providers pay a 

per-subscriber regulatory fee because 

ILECs are providing a service similar to 

cable service? Presently, ILECs that 

provide video service are not subject to 

regulatory fees for their video service, 

unless they are classified as a cable 

provider. We seek comment on this 

proposal. 

a. Internet Protocol TV (‘‘IPTV’’) 

24. From the customer’s perspective, 

there is likely not much difference 

between IPTV and other video services, 

such as cable service. The IPTV service 

could be offered to the customer 

bundled with the customer’s Internet 


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30According to AT&T, ‘‘[t]he AT&T U-verse 

portfolio of IP-based services integrates digital 

video, AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet U-verse 

Enabled, and in the future, voice over IP services.’’

See http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=5838. 

31 FY 2005 Report and Order, 20 FCC Rcd at 

12264, para. 10–11. 

32See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory 

Fees for Fiscal Year 1995, MD Docket No. 95–3, 

Report and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 13512, 13579, 

Appendix H, para. 28 (1995). 

33 Id. 

34 47 CFR 1.1155. 

35We recognize that there may be other methods 

to determine the number of subscribers in an MDU, 

such as counting the number of set top boxes or the 

premium channels ordered, that may be more 

accurate than the ‘‘bulk rate’’ calculation. 

36See 47 CFR Part 23. 

37See 47 CFR Part 73, Subpart F. 

38 In 1988, the Commission amended the GMRS 

rules to provide flexibility to the individual user 

and limit eligibility for new GMRS licenses to 

individuals. See Amendment of Subparts A and E 

of Part 95 to Improve the General Mobile Radio 

Service ‘‘GMRS’’), Report and Order, PR Docket No. 

87–265, 3 FCC Rcd 6554, 6554, para. 3 (1988). 

39 In 1996, the Commission established the 

Family Radio Service (‘‘FRS’’) as a very short range, 

and landline telephone service.30 We 

seek comment on whether this video 

service should be subject to regulatory 

fees, and if so, should the IPTV provider 

count this service for regulatory fee 

purposes in the same manner as cable 

services, which is on a subscriber basis? 

Also, we seek comment on the likely 

outcome of taking no regulatory fee 

action for IPTV. Commenters should 

discuss the impact on cable services and 

the equities of treating similar services 

differently for regulatory fee purposes if 

no regulatory fees are imposed. 

25. We also note that any carrier 

offering this service would pay 

regulatory fees for the interstate 

telecommunications service that may be 

offered together with the IPTV service. 

We tentatively conclude that in such a 

situation, the carrier should pay 

regulatory fees for the ITSP service 

exclusive of the IPTV service, i.e., the 

IPTV revenues should not be combined 

into the ITSP revenue-based regulatory 

fee. We seek comment on this tentative 

conclusion. Commenters should discuss 

the ease or difficulty of separating the 

ITSP revenues from the IPTV revenues. 

b. Direct Broadcast Service (‘‘DBS’’) 

Providers 

26. Currently cable service providers 

pay approximately $0.75 per subscriber 

in regulatory fees; DBS providers do not 

pay a per-subscriber fee. Previously, the 

Commission declined to adopt the same 

per-subscriber fee for DBS.31 We seek 

comment on whether we should impose 

the same per subscriber fee on DBS that 

cable providers pay, or continue to 

assess a space station regulatory fee for 

the DBS industry and a subscriber-based 

regulatory fee structure for the cable 

industry. 

5. Cable Television Services—

Calculation of Subscriber Numbers 

27. In FY 1995, when the Commission 

assessed payments of $0.49 per cable 

television subscriber, the Commission 

explained how cable service providers 

should calculate their number of 

subscribers: 32

Cable Systems should determine their 

subscriber numbers by calculating the 

number of single family dwellings, the 

number of individual households in multiple 

dwelling units, e.g., apartments, 

condominiums, mobile home parks, etc., 

paying at the basic subscriber rate, the 

number of bulk rate customers and the 

number of courtesy or fee customers. In order 

to determine the number of bulk rate 

subscribers, a system should divide its bulk 

rate charge by the annual subscription rate 

for individual households.33

28. Cable service providers are still 

required to pay regulatory fees on a per 

subscriber basis.34 We recognize that it 

may be difficult to identify the number 

of subscribers that reside in multiple 

dwelling units (‘‘MDUs’’) (e.g., 

condominiums, apartment buildings, 

university dormitories) when residents 

do not contract directly with a cable 

service provider. We seek comment on 

whether the ‘‘bulk rate’’ calculation 

described above should be modified to 

more accurately reflect the number of 

subscribers in the MDU. If the ‘‘bulk 

rate’’ calculation does need to be 

revised, commenters should recommend 

a more accurate way to calculate the 

number of subscribers in a MDU. We 

note that if some cable operators are 

undercounting their subscribers, the 

remaining cable operators are paying 

more. Commenters should discuss 

whether the ‘‘bulk rate’’ charge is 

consistent with the requirement that 

cable service providers pay regulatory 

fees on the number of subscribers,35 and 

if not, commenters should discuss why 

it is important for ‘‘bulk rate’’ counts to 

remain separate from subscriber counts. 

We seek comment on this proposal. 

6. Private Land Mobile Radio Services 

(‘‘PLMRS’’) 

29. PLMRS, which includes both 

Exclusive and Shared Services, is 

contending with a declining unit base 

and an ever increasing regulatory fee 

obligation. In its FY 2003 Report and 

Order, the Commission decided to 

freeze the Commercial Mobile Radio 

Service (CMRS) Messaging fee rate at 

the FY 2002 level.1 The Commission 

argued in FY 2003 that because the 

decline in the CMRS Messaging 

industry was a unique circumstance, 

and it was not a temporary 

phenomenon, it was appropriate to 

provide such relief. However, the 

PLMRS industry may not be the only 

industry that is facing a permanent 

declining unit base. As a result, it may 

be necessary for the Commission to 

consider guidelines for assessing 

regulatory fees on such industries. For 

example, what would constitute a 

declining industry, and under what 

basis should the Commission provide 

regulatory fee relief? Should the 

Commission propose to provide 

regulatory fee relief in any and all 

circumstances in which an industry is 

in decline? We seek comment on this 

proposal. 

7. Other Telecommunications Services 

30. We seek comment on whether to 

add, delete, or reclassify services. We 

seek comment on adding other services 

that were not included in our regulatory 

fee schedule initially that should be 

included now. For example, should we 

should we assess regulatory fees on WiFi service providers? Are there other 

services available today that should 

share the regulatory fee burden and thus 

lessen the burden on the more 

established services? If so, how should 

we assess the regulatory fees on these 

services? We also seek comment on 

whether there are fee categories that 

should be eliminated. 

31. International Fixed Public 

Radio.36 There is only one licensee in 

this category and we do not expect any 

additional licensees or applications. We 

propose to eliminate this category from 

our schedule of regulatory fees in order 

to reduce the administrative burden on 

the Commission in assessing this fee 

category. We seek comment on this 

proposal. 

32. International High Frequency 

Broadcast Stations.37 There are only 25 

licensed stations in this category. Most 

of these licensees are tax-exempt 

organizations that are exempt from 

payment of regulatory fees. We propose 

to eliminate this category from our 

schedule of regulatory fees in order to 

reduce the administrative burden on the 

Commission in assessing this fee 

category. We seek comment on this 

proposal. 

33. General Mobile Radio Service 

(‘‘GMRS’’). GMRS is a two-way radio 

service licensed to individuals.38

Prospective licensees pay a $50 license 

application fee for a five-year license 

term as well as a $25 regulatory fee. 

Such costs may be larger than the price 

of the GMRS device. In addition, other 

individual radio devices, such as the 

Family Radio Service,39 do not pay such 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 166 / Tuesday, August 26, 2008 / Proposed Rules 50291 

two-way voice personal radio service that provides 

an affordable and convenient means of 

communications among small groups of persons, 

including families, with minimal regulation. See 

Amendment of Part 95 of the Commission’s Rules 

to Establish a Very Short Distance Two-way Voice 

Radio Service, Report and Order, WT Docket No. 

95–102, 11 FCC Rcd 12977, 12977, para. 2, 12983, 

para. 17, 12984, para. 19 (1996). The FRS shares 

seven frequencies in the 462 MHz band with the 

GMRS and has seven channels that are offset from 

GMRS channels in the 467 MHz band. Specifically, 

FRS channels 1–7 are also GMRS frequencies and 

FRS channels 8–14 are offset from GMRS 

frequencies. 

40See 47 CFR 1.1206(b); see also 47 CFR 1.1202, 

1.1203. 

41See 47 CFR 1.1206(b)(2). 

42See id. section 1.415, 1.419. 

43See Electronic Filing of Documents in 

Rulemaking Proceedings, 13 FCC Rcd 11322 (1998). 

44 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’’). 

45 5 U.S.C. 603(a). 

46 Id. 

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

fees. These issues may contribute to the 

low rate of compliance with our 

licensing requirements for GMRS. We 

therefore propose to eliminate the 

regulatory fees for GMRS devices. The 

application fee would continue to apply 

for this service. We seek comment on 

this proposal. 

34. The above three services are 

perhaps more well known to the 

Commission, but it is possible that there 

may be additional services that should 

be consolidated or eliminated because 

they are based on outmoded technology. 

We seek comment on this issue. 

C. Ex Parte Rules 

35. Permit-But-Disclose. This is as a 

‘‘permit-but-disclose’’ proceeding 

subject to the requirements under 

section 1.1206(b) of the Commission’s 

rules.40 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 

required.41 Additional rules pertaining 

to oral and written presentations are set 

forth in section 1.1206(b). 

D. Filing Requirements 

36. Comments and Replies. Pursuant 

to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the 

Commission’s rules,42 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.43

37. 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 

website 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. 

38. 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. 

• The Commission’s contractor will 

receive hand-delivered or messengerdelivered 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. 

• 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. 

39. Availability of Documents. 

Comments, reply comments, and ex 

parte submissions will be available for 

public inspection during regular 

business hours in the FCC Reference 

Center, Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., CY–

A257, Washington, DC 20554. These 

documents will also be available free 

online, via ECFS. Documents will be 

available electronically in ASCII, Word, 

and/or Adobe Acrobat. 

40. 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 

Commission’s Consumer and 

Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 

418–0530 (voice), (202) 418–0432 

(TTY). This document can also be 

downloaded in Word and Portable 

Document Format (‘‘PDF’’) at: http:// 

www.fcc.gov. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Marlene Dortch, 

Secretary. 

Appendix 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

41. As required by the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (‘‘RFA’’), 44 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 Further 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (‘‘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.45 In addition, the 

NPRM and IRFA (or summaries thereof) will 

be published in the Federal Register.46

I. Need for, and Objectives of, the Proposed 

Rules 

42. This NPRM seeks comment on ways 

the Commission can revise the regulatory fee 

schedule for various categories of services. 

The Commission would like to accomplish 

this in an efficient manner and without 

undue public burden. 

II. Legal Basis 

43. 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.47

III. Description and Estimate of the Number 

of Small Entities to Which the Proposed 

Rules Will Apply 

44. The RFA directs agencies to provide a 

description of, and where feasible, an 


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48 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3). 

49 5 U.S.C. 601(6). 

50 5 U.S.C. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the 

definition of ‘‘small-business concern’’ in the Small 

Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

601(3), the statutory definition of a small business 

applies ‘‘unless an agency, after consultation with 

the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration and after opportunity for public 

comment, establishes one or more definitions of 

such term which are appropriate to the activities of 

the agency and publishes such definition(s) in the 

Federal Register.’’

51 15 U.S.C. 632. 

52See SBA, Programs and Services, SBA 

Pamphlet No. CO–0028, at p. 40 (July 2002). 

53 5 U.S.C. 601(4). 

54 Independent Sector, The New Nonprofit 

Almanac & Desk Reference (2002). 

55 5 U.S.C. 601(5). 

56U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the 

United States: 2006, Section 8, page 272, Table 415. 

57We assume that the villages, school districts, 

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

U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the 

United States: 2006, section 8, p. 273, Table 417. 

For 2002, Census Bureau data indicate that the total 

number of county, municipal, and township 

governments nationwide was 38,967, of which 

35,819 were small. Id. 

58 13 CFR 121.201, North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) code 517110. 

59FCC, 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’’). 

60 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 

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

62 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 

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

64 13 CFR 121. 201, NAICS code 517310. 

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

66 3 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 

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

68 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 

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

70 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517110. 

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

72 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 

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

estimate of the number of small entities that 

may be affected by the proposed rules and 

policies, if adopted.48 The RFA generally 

defines the term ‘‘small entity’’ as having the 

same meaning as the terms ‘‘small business,’’

‘‘small organization,’’ and ‘‘small 

governmental jurisdiction.’’ 49 In addition, 

the term ‘‘small business’’ has the same 

meaning as the term ‘‘small business 

concern’’ under the Small Business Act.50 A 

‘‘small business concern’’ is one which: (1) 

Is independently owned and operated; (2) is 

not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) 

satisfies any additional criteria established by 

the SBA.51

45. Nationwide, there are a total of 22.4 

million small businesses, according to SBA 

data.52 A ‘‘small organization’’ is generally 

‘‘any not-for-profit enterprise which is 

independently owned and operated and is 

not dominant in its field.’’ 53 Nationwide, as 

of 2002, there were approximately 1.6 

million small organizations.54 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.’’ 55 Census Bureau data 

for 2002 indicate that there were 87,525 local 

governmental jurisdictions in the United 

States.56 We estimate that, of this total, 

84,377 entities were ‘‘small governmental 

jurisdictions.’’ 57 Thus, we estimate that most 

governmental jurisdictions are small. Below, 

we further describe and estimate the number 

of small entities, applicants and licensees, 

that may be affected by our action. 

46. 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.58

According to Commission data,59 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 these rules. 

47. 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.60 According to 

Commission data,61 769 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 these rules. 

48. 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.62 According to Commission 

data,63 143 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 these rules. 

1. 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.64

According to Commission data,65 770 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 these rules. 

2. 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.66 According to 

Commission data,67 654 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 

these rules. 

3. Interexchange Carriers (‘‘IXCs’’). Neither 

the Commission nor the SBA has developed 

a small business size standard specifically for 

providers of interexchange services. The 

appropriate size standard under SBA rules is 

for the category Wired Telecommunications 

Carriers. Under that size standard, such a 

business is small if it has 1,500 or fewer 

employees.68 According to Commission 

data,69 316 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 these rules. 

4. 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.70 According to 

Commission data,71 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 these rules. 

5. 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.72 According to Commission 

data,73 89 carriers have reported that they are 


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74We include all toll-free number subscribers in 

this category, including those for 888 numbers. 

75 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517310. 

76 ‘‘Trends in Telephone Service’’ at Tables 18.4, 

18.5, 18.6, and 18.7. 

77 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 517410 and 

517910. 

78U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

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

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

79U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: Information, ‘‘Establishment and 

Firm Size (Including Legal Form of Organization),’’

Table 4, NAICS code 517410. 

80 Id. An additional 38 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

81U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517910 Other Telecommunications;’’ http:// 

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

82U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: Information, ‘‘Establishment and 

Firm Size (Including Legal Form of Organization),’’

Table 4, NAICS code 517910. 

83 Id. An additional 14 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

84U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517210 Wireless Telecommunications Categories 

(Except Satellite)’’; http://www.census.gov/naics/ 

2007/def/ND517210.HTM#N517210. 

85U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517211 Paging’’; http:// www.census.gov/epcd/ 

naics02/def/NDEF517.HTM.; U.S. Census Bureau, 

2002 NAICS Definitions, ‘‘517212 Cellular and 

Other Wireless Telecommunications’’; http:// 

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

86 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517210 (2007 

NAICS). The now-superseded, pre-2007 CFR 

citations were 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 

517211 and 517212 (referring to the 2002 NAICS). 

87U.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). 

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 ‘‘1,000 

employees or more.’’

89U.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). 

90 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.’’

91Office of Management and Budget, North 

American Industry Classification System, page 515 

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

Services.’’

92 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 518111. 

93U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, 

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

Size of Firms Subject to Federal Income Tax: 1997, 

NAICS code 514191. 

94 Id. 

95U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘515120 Television Broadcasting’’ (partial 

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

def/NDEF515.HTM. 

96 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 515120. 

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 these rules. 

6. 800 and 800-Like Service Subscribers.74

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.75 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.76

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. 

7. 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.77

8. 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.’’ 78 For this category, 

Census Bureau data for 2002 show that there 

were a total of 371 firms that operated for the 

entire year.79 Of this total, 307 firms had 

annual receipts of under $10 million, and 26 

firms had receipts of $10 million to 

$24,999,999.80 Consequently, we estimate 

that the majority of Satellite 

Telecommunications firms are small entities 

that might be affected by our action. 

9. 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.’’ 81 For this category, 

Census Bureau data for 2002 show that there 

were a total of 332 firms that operated for the 

entire year.82 Of this total, 259 firms had 

annual receipts of under $10 million and 15 

firms had annual receipts of $10 million to 

$24,999,999.83 Consequently, we estimate 

that the majority of Other 

Telecommunications firms are small entities 

that might be affected by our action. 

10. Wireless Telecommunications Carriers 

(except Satellite). Since 2007, the Census 

Bureau has placed wireless firms within this 

new, broad, economic census category.84

Prior to that time, such firms were within the 

now-superseded categories of ‘‘Paging’’ and 

‘‘Cellular and Other Wireless 

Telecommunications.’’ 85 Under the present 

and prior categories, the SBA has deemed a 

wireless business to be small if it has 1,500 

or fewer employees.86 Because Census 

Bureau data are not yet available for the new 

category, we will estimate small business 

prevalence using the prior categories and 

associated data. For the category of Paging, 

data for 2002 show that there were 807 firms 

that operated for the entire year.87 Of this 

total, 804 firms had employment of 999 or 

fewer employees, and three firms had 

employment of 1,000 employees or more.88

For the category of Cellular and Other 

Wireless Telecommunications, data for 2002 

show that there were 1,397 firms that 

operated for the entire year.89 Of this total, 

1,378 firms had employment of 999 or fewer 

employees, and 19 firms had employment of 

1,000 employees or more.90 Thus, we 

estimate that the majority of wireless firms 

are small. 

11. 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 computerheld information compiled or published by 

others.’’ 91 Under the SBA size standard, such 

a business is small if it has average annual 

receipts of $21 million or less.92 According 

to Census Bureau data for 1997, there were 

2,751 firms in this category that operated for 

the entire year.93 Of these, 2,659 firms had 

annual receipts of under $10 million, and an 

additional 67 firms had receipts of between 

$10 million and $24,999,999.94 Thus, under 

this size standard, the great majority of firms 

can be considered small entities. 

12. 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.’’ 95

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.96 According to 

Commission staff review of the BIA 

Publications, Inc., Media Access Pro 

Television Database as of December 7, 200, 

about 825 (66 percent) of the 1,250 

commercial television stations in the United 

States had revenues of $13 million or less. 

We note, however, that in assessing whether 

a business entity qualifies as small under the 


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97 ‘‘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). 

98 FCC News Release, ‘‘Broadcast Station Totals as 

of September 30, 2007.’’

99See OMB, North American Industry 

Classification System: United States, 1997, at 509 

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

100 Id. 

101 ‘‘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). 

102 ‘‘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). 

103 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS codes 513111 and 

513112. 

104FCC News Release, ‘‘Broadcast Station Totals 

as of September 30, 2007.’’

105 15 U.S.C. 632. 

106U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 NAICS Definitions, 

‘‘517510 Cable and Other Program Distribution;’’

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

NDEF517.HTM. 

107 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

108U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: Information, Table 4, Receipts Size 

of Firms for the United States: 2002, NAICS code 

517510. 

109 Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

110 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). 

111These data are derived from: R.R. Bowker, 

Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2006, ‘‘Top 25 

Cable/Satellite Operators,’’ pages A–8 & C–2; 

Warren Communications News, Television & Cable 

Factbook 2006, ‘‘Ownership of Cable Systems in the 

United States,’’ pages D–1805 to D–1857. 

112 47 CFR 76.901(c). 

113Warren 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. 

114 47 U.S.C. 543(m)(2); see 47 CFR 76.901(f) & 

nn. 1–3. 

115 47 CFR 76.901(f); see Public Notice, ‘‘FCC 

Announces New Subscriber Count for the Definition 

of Small Cable Operator,’’ 16 FCC Rcd 2225 (Cable 

Services Bureau, 2001). 

116These data are derived from: R.R. Bowker, 

Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 2006, ‘‘Top 25 

Cable/Satellite Operators,’’ pages A–8 & C–2; 

Warren Communications News, Television & Cable 

Factbook 2006, ‘‘Ownership of Cable Systems in the 

United States,’’ pages D–1805 to D–1857. 

117The Commission does receive such 

information on a case-by-case basis if a cable 

operator appeals a local franchise authority’s 

above definition, business (control) 

affiliations 97 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. 

13. 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. 

14. There are also 2,117 low power 

television stations (‘‘LPTV’’).98 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. 

15. Radio Broadcasting. The SBA defines a 

radio broadcast entity that has $6 million or 

less in annual receipts as a small business.99

Business concerns included in this industry 

are those ‘‘primarily engaged in broadcasting 

aural programs by radio to the public.’’ 100

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 101 are included.102 Our estimate, 

therefore likely overstates the number of 

small businesses that might be affected by the 

rules adopted herein. 

16. 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.103

17. The Commission estimates that there 

are approximately 5,618 FM translators and 

boosters.104 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.105

18. Cable and Other Program Distribution. 

The Census Bureau defines this category as 

follows: ‘‘This industry comprises 

establishments primarily engaged as thirdparty 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 

consumers via cable or direct-to-home 

satellite systems on a subscription or fee 

basis. These establishments do not generally 

originate programming material.’’ 106 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.107

According to Census Bureau data for 2002, 

there were a total of 1,191 firms in this 

category that operated for the entire year.108

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.109 Thus, under this size 

standard, the majority of firms can be 

considered small. 

19. 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.110 Industry data 

indicate that, of 1,076 cable operators 

nationwide, all but eleven are small under 

this size standard.111 In addition, under the 

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

cable system serving 15,000 or fewer 

subscribers.112 Industry data indicate that, of 

7,208 systems nationwide, 6,139 systems 

have less than 10,000 subscribers, and an 

additional 379 systems have 10,000–19,999 

subscribers.113 Thus, under this second size 

standard, most cable systems are small. 

20. 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.’’ 114 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.115

Industry data indicate that, of 1,076 cable 

operators nationwide, all but ten are small 

under this size standard.116 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,117 and therefore we are unable to 


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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). 

118See 47 U.S.C. 573. 

119 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

120See http://www.fcc.gov/csb/ovs/csovscer.html. 

121 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517510. 

122U.S. Census Bureau, 2002 Economic Census, 

Subject Series: Information, Table 4, Receipts Size 

of Firms for the United States: 2002, NAICS code 

517510. 

123 Id. An additional 61 firms had annual receipts 

of $25 million or more. 

124Amendment of Parts 2 and 25 of the 

Commission’s Rules to Permit Operation of NGSO 

FSS Systems Co-Frequency with GSO and 

Terrestrial Systems in the Ku-Band Frequency 

Range; Amendment of the Commission’s Rules to 

Authorize Subsidiary Terrestrial Use of the 12.2–

12.7 GHz Band by Direct Broadcast Satellite 

Licenses and their Affiliates; and Applications of 

Broadwave USA, PDC Broadband Corporation, and 

Satellite Receivers, Ltd., to provide A Fixed Service 

in the 12.2–12.7 GHz Band, ET Docket No. 98–206, 

Memorandum Opinion and Order and Second 

Report and Order, 17 FCC Rcd 9614, 9711, para. 252 

(2002). 

125See Letter from Hector V. Barreto, 

Administrator, SBA, to Margaret W. Wiener, Chief, 

Auctions and Industry Analysis Division, Wireless 

Telecommunications Bureau, FCC (Feb. 13, 2002). 

126See ‘‘Multichannel Video Distribution and 

Data Service Auction Closes,’’ Public Notice, 19 

FCC Rcd 1834 (2004). 

127See ‘‘Auction of Multichannel Video 

Distribution and Data Service Licenses Closes; 

Winning Bidders Announced for Auction No. 63,’’

Public Notice, 20 FCC Rcd 19807 (2005). 

128 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS code 517212. 

129Amendment of the Commission’s Rules 

Concerning Maritime Communications, Third 

Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and 

Order, 13 FCC Rcd 19853 (1998). 

130 47 CFR Part 90. 

131The 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. 

132 13 CFR 121.201, NAICS Code 517212. 

133With 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 

Continued 

estimate more accurately the number of cable 

system operators that would qualify as small 

under this size standard. 

21. Open Video Services. Open Video 

Service (‘‘OVS’’) systems provide 

subscription services.118 The SBA has 

created a small business size standard for 

Cable and Other Program Distribution.119

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.120 Affiliates of Residential 

Communications Network, Inc. (‘‘RCN’’), 

received approval to operate OVS systems in 

New York City, Boston, Washington, DC, 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 adopted herein. 

22. 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.121

According to Census Bureau data for 2002, 

there were a total of 1,191 firms in this 

category that operated for the entire year.122

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.123 Thus, under this size 

standard, the majority of firms can be 

considered small. 

23. Multichannel Video Distribution and 

Data Service (‘‘MVDDS’’). 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.124 These definitions were approved by 

the SBA.125 On January 27, 2004, the 

Commission completed an auction of 214 

MVDDS licenses (Auction No. 53). In this 

auction, ten winning bidders won a total of 

192 MVDDS licenses.126 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.127

24. Amateur Radio Service. These licensees 

are held by individuals in a noncommercial 

capacity; these licensees are not small 

entities. 

25. 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.128 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.129 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. 

26. Personal Radio Services. Personal radio 

services provide short-range, low power 

radio for personal communications, radio 

signaling, and business communications not 

provided for in other services. The Personal 

Radio Services include spectrum licensed 

under Part 95 of our rules.130 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 

Multi-Use Radio Service (‘‘MURS’’).131 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 adopted. 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.132 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 rules adopted herein. 

27. Public Safety Radio Services. Public 

Safety radio services include police, fire, 

local government, forestry conservation, 

highway maintenance, and emergency 

medical services.133 There are a total of 


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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. 

134 47 CFR 1.1162. 

135 5 U.S.C. 601(5). 

136 5 U.S.C. 603(b)(3). 

137 5 U.S.C. 601(6). 

138 5 U.S.C. 601(3) (incorporating by reference the 

definition of ‘‘small-business concern’’ in the Small 

Business Act, 15 U.S.C. 632). Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

601(3), the statutory definition of a small business 

applies ‘‘unless an agency, after consultation with 

the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business 

Administration and after opportunity for public 

comment, establishes one or more definitions of 

such term which are appropriate to the activities of 

the agency and publishes such definition(s) in the 

Federal Register.’’

139 15 U.S.C. 632. 140 5 U.S.C. 603. 

approximately 127,540 licensees in these 

services. Governmental entities 134 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.135 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.136 The RFA generally defines the 

term ‘‘small entity’’ as having the same 

meaning as the terms ‘‘small business,’’

‘‘small organization,’’ and ‘‘small 

governmental jurisdiction.’’137 In addition, 

the term ‘‘small business’’ has the same 

meaning as the term ‘‘small business 

concern’’ under the Small Business Act.138 A 

‘‘small business concern’’ is one which: (1) 

Is independently owned and operated; (2) is 

not dominant in its field of operation; and (3) 

satisfies any additional criteria established by 

the SBA.139

IV. Description of Projected Reporting, 

Recordkeeping and Other Compliance 

Requirements: 

28. The Commission is concerned that 

some entities are paying too much and others 

are not paying enough regulatory fees. In this 

FNPRM, the Commission seeks comment on 

ways to modify the regulatory fee rules to 

better reflect the current industry and offered 

services. In addition, the Commission is 

concerned with rule non-compliance. The 

Commission could reduce such 

noncompliance by various means, including 

adopting filing requirements for international 

bearer circuits for non-common carriers. 

Common carriers already have filing 

requirements. 

V. Steps Taken to Minimize Significant 

Economic Impact on Small Entities, and 

Significant Alternatives Considered: 

29. 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.140 The Commission is 

seeking comment on ways to revise the 

regulatory fees to possibly include more 

entities and to reduce or increase the fee 

burden on certain fee categories. The 

Commission is also seeking comment on 

reducing international bearer circuit 

regulatory fee non-compliance and close 

loopholes in the Commission’s rules. It is 

possible that additional filing requirements 

for non-common carriers will be considered, 

with respect to international bearer circuits. 

These filing requirements already apply to 

common carriers. There may be other 

proposals offered by commenters to add or 

reduce regulatory fees or to reduce noncompliance with our rules. Such proposals 

may include reporting or recordkeeping 

requirements. It is important that all entities 

bear their required share of regulatory fees; 

otherwise, the companies that comply with 

the rules must pay for those that refuse to 

comply. 

VI. Federal Rules that May Duplicate, 

Overlap, or Conflict with the Proposed Rules 

30. None. 

[FR Doc. E8–19431 Filed 8–25–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 73 

[DA 08–1722; MB Docket No. 07–296; RM–

11412] 

Radio Broadcasting Services; French 

Lick, Indiana; Irvington, KY 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: This document requests 

comments on a petition for rulemaking 

filed by L. Dean Spencer, requesting the 

allotment of Channel 261A at Irvington, 

Kentucky, as the community’s first local 

aural transmission service. Channel 

261A can be allotted at Irvington, 

Kentucky at a site 13.8 kilometers (8.5 

miles) northwest of the community at 

coordinates 37–56–52 NL and 86–24–54 

WL. 

DATES: Comments must be filed on or 

before September 22, 2008, and reply 

comments on or before October 7, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 Twelfth Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. In addition to 

filing comments with the FCC, 

interested parties should serve the 

petitioner’s counsel as follows: John F. 

Garziglia, Esq., Womble, Carlyle 

Sandridge & Rice, PLLC, 1401 Eye 

Street, NW., Seventh Floor, Washington, 

DC 20005. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Victoria McCauley, Media Bureau, (202) 

418–2180. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a 

synopsis of the Commission’s Notice of 

Proposed Rule Making and Order to 

Show Cause, MB Docket No. 07–296, 

adopted July 30, 2008, and released 

August 1, 2008. The full text of this 

Commission decision is available for 

inspection and copying during normal 

business hours in the FCC’s Reference 

Information Center at Portals II, CY–

A257, 445 Twelfth Street, SW., 

Washington, DC 20554. This document 

may also be purchased from the 

Commission’s copy contractor, Best 

Copy and Printing, Inc., Portals II, 445 

12th Street, SW., Room CY–B402, 

Washington, DC 20554, telephone 1–

800–378–3160 or http:// 

www.BCPIWEB.com. 

This document does not contain 

proposed information collection 

requirements subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–

13. In addition, therefore, it does not 

contain any proposed 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). Provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act of l980 do not apply to 

this proceeding. 

Members of the public should note 

that from the time a Notice of Proposed 

Rule Making is issued until the matter 

is no longer subject to Commission 

consideration or court review, all ex 

parte contacts are prohibited in 

Commission proceedings, such as this 

one, which involve channel allotments. 


sroberts on PROD1PC76 with PROPOSALS