Telecom Law Monitor : Washington D.C. Telecom Lawyer & Attorney : Kelley Drye & Warren Law Firm : New York, Chicago, Connecticut, New Jersey, Brussels

Following on the release of the 2010-11 TRS Fund contribution factor, the Commission today released its final regulatory fee schedule for FY 2010.  The Commission adopted a telecommunications provider fee that is slightly lower than it proposed in April.  The regulatory fee for telecommunications providers (including audio bridging providers) is $0.00349 per revenue dollar reported on the April 1, 2010 Form 499-A.

The Commission acknowledged that telecommunications providers pay 46% of all regulatory fees, which several carriers had argued is a disproportionately large percentage of the total amount collected by the FCC.  (And I agree.)  Recognizing these concerns, the Commission announced that it would be releasing a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to "rebalance" its regulatory fees in the future.

Regulatory fee payments will be due by the end of September and are subject to a 25% late payment penalty if not paid on time.  As with last year, the FCC will not mail bills to telecommunications carriers.  Carriers are required to check the FCC regulatory fee web page for payment information before the September due date. 

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We have a classic "man bites dog" story for you today:  The FCC announced that its contribution factor for the fund that supports the Telecommunications Relay Service -- a telecom assistance service for persons with hearing or speech disabilities -- is decreasing by nearly 50%.  Whereas last year's TRS contribution factor was 1.1% of telecom revenues, the 2010-11 factor is only 0.585% of telecom revenues.

However, this rate was lowered in part by a one-time application of a refund from the 2009-10 fund.  Carriers can expect a slight increase in July 2011, after the one-time refund is exhausted.

The new rate is effective as of July 1.  Carriers subject to the TRS fund (basically, any entity that files a FCC Form 499) should see the lower rate on their next invoice from the TRS administrator.

Kelley Drye's client advisory on the TRS reduction is available here.

The FCC order setting the TRS contribution factor is available here.

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Despite issues over the FCC's jurisdiction in light of the Comcast decision, the FCC's Public Safety Bureau took a step toward possible extension of the FCC's outage reporting requirements to broadband service providers and providers of interconnected VoIP services.  In a July 2 Public Notice, the Bureau seeks comment "in advance of" a possible Commission rulemaking proceeding.  The comment request in many ways presumes that the outage reporting rules should apply, and asks a number of questions about how they could apply and what changes might be necessary in light of the different technologies involved.  Clearly, the Bureau is seeking to do its homework before the Commission initiates a rulemaking proceeding.

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