PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 Released September 4, 2013 DA 13-1796 Payment Methods and Procedures For Fiscal Year 2013 Regulatory Fees Each year, the Commission is required to collect regulatory fees. Licensees and regulatees are assessed fees as set forth in Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2013, Report and Order 78 FR 52433, (August 23, 2013) (“FY 2013 Regulatory Fees Report and Order”). The Commission also publishes industry-specific guidance in Who Owes Fees & What Is My FY 2013 Fee, which can be found on the Commission website at http://transition.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html. The Commission’s automated filing and payment system (“Fee Filer”) is now available for filing and payment of FY 2013 regulatory fees. Regulatory fee payments must be RECEIVED by the Commission no later than 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, on September 20, 2013. MANDATORY USE OF FEE FILER The use of the online Fee Filer system for filing regulatory fees has not changed since the process was first initiated in FY 2009: licensees and regulatees must first enter the Commission’s Fee Filer system with a valid FRN and password, and follow the online prompts to generate a Form 159-E voucher to be submitted, with the appropriate regulatory fee payment, to the designated entity, U.S. Bank. Use of the online Fee Filer system is mandatory, and only Form 159-E vouchers generated from Fee Filer may be submitted with regulatory fee payments to U.S. Bank. Instructions on the use and submission of Form 159-E payments also are available on the Commission’s website in the publication, Who Owes Fees & What Is My FY 2013 Fee, referenced above. Hardcopy/paper bills are no longer mailed by the FCC; however, bills are available for viewing in the “Regulatory Fee” link of Fee Filer. Licensees in the following services should consult the cited sources below for information on their fees. Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSPs) Please follow the guidance provided in the Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers for FY 2013. Satellite Space Station Licensees Please follow the guidance provided in the Fact Sheet: What You Owe—International and Satellite Services Licensees for FY 2013. Earth Station Licensees Please follow the guidance provided in the Fact Sheet: What You Owe—International and Satellite Services Licensees for FY 2013. 2Cable Television Relay Service (CARS) Licensees Please follow the guidance provided in the Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Cable Television Systems for FY 2013. Note: Beginning in FY 2013, there will be two additional fee categories that will be assigned bill numbers: BRS/LMDS licensees and UHF/VHF Television Stations. Please follow the guidance provided in the following fact sheets: Media Service Licensees Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Media Service Licensees for FY 2013. Commercial Wireless Services Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Commercial Wireless Service Licensees for FY 2013. For additional information, filers in these and any other fee category may contact the Financial Operations Help Desk at 877-480-3201, Option 4. FCC REGISTRATION NUMBER (FRN) MUST BE CURRENT IN CORES It is very important for licensees and regulatees to have a current and valid FRN address on file in the Commission’s Registration System (CORES). To file and pay regulatory fees, fee payors will need to have their FRN passwords available when entering Fee Filer. When entering Fee Filer, using a specific FRN and password linked to a particular regulatory fee bill will help to reduce the reporting time. Fee payors that do not have an FRN should go to www.fcc.gov and click on the link to FCC Registration Number (FRN) Commission Registration System (CORES) to obtain one. LIMITATIONS ON CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS The U.S Treasury will no longer process credit card transactions greater than $49,999.99. Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) No. A-2012-02 (http://tfm.fiscal.treasury.gov/v1/announc/a- 12-02.html), February 2012, directs agencies to limit credit card collections amounts not to exceed $49,999.99. The revised policy, effective June 30, 2012, lowers the maximum dollar amount of $99,999.99 formerly allowed for a credit card transaction to $49,999.99 and eliminates the maximum dollar limit for a debit card transaction. In addition, the U.S. Treasury will reject multiple credit card transactions from a single credit card in a single day that total more than $49,999.99. The system will also reject transactions charged to a credit card on that day that exceed the total daily dollar limit of $49,999.00. The FCC policy will conform to the U.S. Treasury policy. Fee payors needing to remit amounts of $50,000.00 or greater must use alternative methods of payment: check, debit card, ACH or FedWire. Beginning on October 1, 2013, the alternative methods of payment for amounts $50,000 or greater will be limited to debit cards and ACH or FedWire payments. The FCC will post warnings on FCC websites to remind licensees of the U.S. Treasury policy. Additional information can be found at http://transition.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html. 3Regulatory fee payments that exceed the U.S. Treasury limit and are rejected by Treasury, causing a payment not to meet the required payment deadline, will be subject to interest, fees, and a 25% late payment penalty. ELECTRONIC FILING AND PAYMENT PROCEDURES (FOR ALL ENTITIES) All fee payors must enter the FCC’s Fee Filer system to begin the process of filing FY 2013 regulatory fees. The Fee Filer web application is located at: www.fcc.gov/feefiler. After logging in with an FRN and password, the Regulatory Fees option should be selected to display billed and non-billed regulatory fees. It is the responsibility of each fee payor to determine its regulatory fee obligation. Fee Filer displays fee information associated with an FRN. Although the Commission makes every effort to assure the accuracy of the information contained in Fee Filer, the Commission cautions fee payors that any errors in the information contained in Fee Filer do not relieve fee payors of the responsibility to pay all fees correctly. Fee payors may make adjustments, corrections, additions, or deletions to the information contained in Fee Filer, if necessary. For technical assistance, please contact the Financial Operations Help Desk at (877) 480-3201, Option 4. PAYMENT METHODS Licensees and regulatees may pay their regulatory fees by any of the following methods; · Check (beginning 10/1/13, the Commission will no longer accept checks) · Money order (beginning 10/1/13, the Commission will no longer accept money orders) · Credit card (online or by mail) · Wire transfer · ACH (Automated Clearing House) / debit from bank account (online) via Fee Filer Check or Money Order: · For fee payments by check or money order, make the instrument payable to the Federal Communications Commission. Please note that only Form 159-E vouchers generated from Fee Filer may be submitted with regulatory fee payments to U.S. Bank. US Bank’s/Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland will convert check payments drawn on personal checking accounts into an electronic funds transfer. “Electronic fund transfer” refers to the process in which we electronically instruct a fee payor’s financial institution to transfer funds from the payor’s account to our account instead of processing your check. By sending a completed, signed check to the Commission, the fee payor authorizes the Commission to copy the check and use the account information from the check to make an electronic fund transfer from the account for the same amount as the check. If the electronic fund transfer cannot be processed for technical reasons, the Commission will consider the fee payor as having authorized us to process the copy of the check. Licensees and regulatees paying regulatory fees by check should note that beginning on October 1, 2013, the Commission will no longer accept checks (including money orders and cashier’s checks) and the accompanying hardcopy forms (e.g., Form 159’s, Form 159-B’s, Form 159-E’s, Form 159-W’s) for the payment of regulatory fees. As of October 1, 2013 all payments must be 4made by online ACH payment, online credit card, or wire transfer. Any other form of payment (e.g., checks) will be rejected and sent back to the payor. For wire transfers, a Form 159-E should be transmitted via FAX ((314) 418-4232) to U.S. Bank so that the Commission can associate the wire payment with the corresponding regulatory fee payment. This change will affect all payments of regulatory fees made on or after October 1, 2013.1 Credit Card (online or by mail): · The FCC accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. · To pay online by credit card, fee payors must first submit electronic filing information through the FCC’s Fee Filer web application, and will then have the option to pay online by choosing the “Pay by Credit Card” option. · Limitations on credit card transactions: As noted previously, the U.S. Treasury will reject credit card transactions greater than $49,999.99 from a single credit card in a single day. · When paying by credit card by mail (must be accompanied with a Form 159-E), fee payors must complete both: - the “Credit Card Payment Information” section with all the requested credit card information along with a signature, and - the “Certification” section by signing and dating the bottom of Form 159-E. Wire Transfer: A wire transfer is a transaction that is initiated through a bank, authorizing the bank to wire funds from an account to the Federal Reserve Bank, NYC (TREAS NYC). All payments made by wire transfer (payable to the Federal Communications Commission) must be supported by a completed Form 159-E remittance voucher, which should be captioned at the top, "Wire Transfer - Regulatory Fee Payment." The Form 159-E will already have the Lockbox number (“979084”) pre-printed on the form. This must be FAXed to FCC Government Lockbox – Regulatory Fees (U.S. Bank in St. Louis, Missouri) at (314) 418-4232 at least one hour before the wire transfer on the same business day, so as not to delay crediting the payment. Please note that most wire transfers initiated after 6:00 p.m. (EDT) will be credited the next business day. Fee payors should discuss arrangements (including bank closing schedules, and bank wire transaction fees for which the Commission is not responsible) with their bankers several days before they plan to make the wire transfer to allow sufficient time for the transfer to be initiated and completed before the deadline, especially if the wire transfer is an international one. Complete instructions for making wire payments are posted at http://transition.fcc.gov/fees/wiretran.html. When initiating the wire transfer, please provide the bank with the following information to complete the transfer: ABA Routing Number: 021030004 Receiving Bank: TREAS NYC 33 Liberty St. New York, NY 10045 1 Payors should note that this change will mean that entities that have previously paid both regulatory fees and application fees at the same time by paper check will no longer be able to do so because regulatory fees payments by paper check will no longer be accepted. 5BNF: FCC/ACCT--27000001 OBI Field: (Skip one space between each information item)\"REGULATORY PAY" PAYER FRN (Exactly as on remittance instrument) PAYER NAME (Exactly as on remittance instrument) Phone: (Daytime Phone #, exactly as on remittance instrument) VOUCHER NUMBER (Exactly as on remittance (Form 159-E) instrument) ACH Payments (Debit from Bank Account) · To pay online from a bank account, fee payors must first submit their electronic filing information via the FCC’s Fee Filer web application; they will then have the option to pay online by choosing the “Pay from Bank Account” option. Note: Fee payors are strongly encouraged to contact their financial institutions to confirm that the correct Routing Number for this method of payment is being used. · Fee payors may choose to pay using personal checking, personal savings, business checking, and business savings. · For purposes of meeting the filing deadline, the FCC will consider payment to be received when account information is successfully accepted. Funds may not clear for up to 2 business days. Fee payors are responsible for obtaining confirmation from their financial institution that payment was successfully debited from the designated account(s). Payment by check, money order, or credit card must be accompanied by Form 159-E Mail to: Federal Communications Commission Regulatory Fees P.O. Box 979084 St. Louis, MO 63197-9000 Courier delivery address: Federal Communications Commission Regulatory Fees C/O U.S. Bank – Government Lockbox #979084 SL-MO-C2-GL 1005 Convention Plaza St. Louis, MO 63101 Attn: FCC Government Lockbox DE MINIMIS FEE PAYMENT LIABILITY Licensees and regulatees whose total FY 2013 regulatory fee liability, including all categories of fees for which payment is due, amounts to less than $10 are exempt from payment of FY 2013 regulatory fees. OTHER QUESTIONS REGARDING REGULATORY FEES The following Fact Sheets and Websites are available at http://transition.fcc.gov/fees/regfees.html to help licensees with their regulatory fee obligations: 6FACT SHEET: WHAT YOU OWE - CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS—FY2013 FACT SHEET: WHAT YOU OWE - MEDIA SERVICES LICENSEES—FY2013 FCC LOOK-UP WEBSITE FOR MEDIA SERVICES LICENSEES OWING FY 2013 REGULATORY FEES FACT SHEET: WHAT YOU OWE - COMMERCIAL WIRELESS SERVICES—FY2013 FACT SHEET: WHAT YOU OWE - INTERNATIONAL AND SATELLITE SERVICES LICENSEES— FY2013 PUBLIC NOTICE: SUBMARINE CABLE SYSTEMS—FY2013 FACT SHEET: WHAT YOU OWE - INTERSTATE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDERS— FY2013 FACT SHEET: WAIVERS, REDUCTIONS AND DEFERMENTS OF REGULATORY FEES—FY2013 FACT SHEET: REGULATORY FEE EXEMPTIONS—FY2013 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Licensees and regulatees should contact the Commission’s Financial Operations Help Desk with inquiries regarding regulatory fees at (877) 480-3201 Option 4 or e-mail inquiries to ARINQUIRIES@FCC.GOV. Public Notices and Fact Sheets can be ordered by calling (888) 225-5322. Materials can also be obtained by writing to: Federal Communications Commission, ATTN: Consumer Information Center, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20554. - FCC -