FCC Makes DBS Pay Per-Sub User Fee

The Federal Communications Commission has decided to charge direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) providers a regulatory fee based on a per-subscriber basis, as it does cable and telecommunications multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). That came in an order released May 21, where the FCC said in seeking comment on its proposed fees for 2015 ($339,844,000) that it had decided to add DBS to the cable and IPTV category. The FCC also asked, in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, whether it should reduce the cable per-sub fee for 2015 to reflect that DBS has joined the group.

The American Cable Association and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association have been asking the FCC to treat DBS the same when it came to fees. Back in September 2014, the FCC adopted a number of changes to how it collects regulatory fees ($339,844.00 for 2014) from MVPDs, broadcasters and others. As part of that, it also adopted a further notice of proposed rulemaking, the proposal being to start charging DBS operators a per-sub fee, as it does cable operators. Satellite companies now pay a per-license fee.