AT&T Yields On Video Regulatory Fees

As a provider of a start-up Internet Protocol video service, AT&T has been exempt from paying regulatory fees used to help fund the Federal Communications Commission's $313 million budget, much to the displeasure of incumbent cable operators. In a concession Monday, AT&T said it should begin to pay video-based fees -- not necessarily at the same rate as cable incumbents but more likely at a level that represents the actual burdens imposed by its nascent video service on FCC staff resources. "AT&T fully agrees that, as a [pay-TV] provider, it should pay an equitable share of the [FCC's] regulatory costs," the company said in an Oct. 27 FCC filing.