Verizon: Hike Satellite TV Regulatory Fees

Congress requires the Federal Communications Commission to fund nearly 100% of its operations by assessing annual fees on cable TV providers, satellite TV providers, phone companies, broadcasters and other entities under its jurisdiction. Satellite TV providers DirecTV and Dish Network need to pay millions of dollars more each year to help finance the FCC's $313 million budget, according to Verizon Communications. For the current fiscal year, DirecTV is paying about 7 cents and Dish Network about 5 cents per subscriber in FCC regulatory fees. Cable operators, in a disparity that has existed for many years, are paying 80 cents per subscriber. In 2008, cable operators, with 64.8 million subscribers, need to pay $51.8 million. DirecTV and Dish Network, with about 30 million subscribers, are to pay about $2.3 million combined. Verizon also pointed out that the FCC hasn't been collecting regulatory fees from Internet Protocol TV providers, such as AT&T, because the agency hasn't classified IPTV providers as cable operators.