REGULATORY FEES  
FACT SHEETFederal Communications Commission
445 12th St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554 August 2007
WHAT YOU OWE – CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS FOR FY 2007
Cable television systems operating on October 1, 2006 must pay a regulatory fee per subscriber1 for all 
of the community units (CUIDs) in which they operate.  The number of basic cable subscribers that 
you served on December 31, 2006 should be used as the basis from which to calculate your fee 
payment.  You may pay your regulatory fee for all of your basic service subscribers with a single line 
entry in Fee Filer (or on a hardcopy remittance advice Form 159) without having to list your individual 
CUIDs.    
Licensees of CARS facilities must pay a regulatory fee for each CARS facility that was operating 
on October 1, 2006, even if a facility’s license expired after October 1, 2006.  In instances where a 
license or authorization is transferred or assigned after October 1, 2006, the fee must be paid by the 
party that is the licensee or holder of the authorization on the date that the fee payment is due.  
When submitting payment, CARS licensees should individually list each of their CARS call signs.
Notice of Billing:  CARS licensees will receive a pre-filled regulatory fee bill (FCC Form 159-B) 
from the Commission for their CARS licenses.  We strongly encourage licensees to submit their 
regulatory fee payment using Fee Filer. However, if you choose not to use Fee Filer, licensees 
should submit payment with a completed Form 159-B rather than the traditional Form 159.
CARS licensees are required to make regulatory fee payments for their other non-billed holdings 
(cable television subscribers, etc.) and must continue to use the traditional hardcopy Form 159 when 
making those payments, if choosing not to submit payment using Fee Filer. 
 
TYPE OF FEE REGULATORY FEE 
PAYMENT
PAYMENT TYPE 
CODE
Cable System Subscriber Fee $0.75 per subscriber 0771
CARS License $185 per license 0770
  
1 Number of Subscribers In a Community Unit = Number of single family dwellings + Number of individual 
households in multiple dwelling units (e.g., apartments, condominiums, mobile home parks, etc.) paying at the basic 
subscriber rate + Number of bulk-rate customers + Number of courtesy and free service.  (NOTE:  Bulk-Rate 
Customers = total annual bulk rate charge ¸ basic annual subscription rate for individual households).
2
LIMITATIONS ON CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS
The U.S. Treasury will reject Credit Card transactions greater than $99,999.99 from a single credit 
card in a single day, in accordance with U.S. Treasury Bulletin No. 2005-03.  If you need to pay 
$100,000.00 or more, then you must pay via a check, debit, or wire transfer.  
USE FEE FILER
We strongly encourage you to submit your FY 2007 regulatory fee payment via Fee Filer. The 
benefits of electronically filing and paying via Fee Filer are expeditious payment submissions that 
are less expensive (no U.S. postage if paying online) and less prone to error.  It also results in 
improved record keeping and payment reconciliation efforts, and reduces paperwork burdens on 
payers and Commission staff alike.  
Traditionally, regulatees needing to make voluminous payment transactions have had to use 
hardcopy Form 159-Cs (Continuation Sheets).  These payers will benefit even more so by using Fee 
Filer.  Having expanded our pre-billing initiatives in FY 2007, some regulatees may receive more 
than one Form 159-B; and some may be obligated to pay for fees that were pre-billed and other fees 
that were not pre-billed. Fee Filer relieves regulatees of the need to follow different filing 
instructions for different fees; and enables all fee obligations to be paid simply either online or by 
following pre-printed instructions on a Fee Filer-produced voucher.
Fee Filer accepts electronic credit card transactions of up to $99,999.99 and ACH payment 
transactions from a bank account of an unlimited dollar amount. Fee Filer also facilitates payment 
by check or wire transfer by producing a one-page Remittance Voucher Form 159-E which can be 
mailed to our lockbox bank. Fee Filer can be accessed at http://www.fcc.gov/fees/feefiler.html.
Instructions for Completing FCC Forms 159 & 159-C
We strongly encourage you to submit your regulatory fee payment using Fee Filer. However, 
if you choose to submit payment with a completed hardcopy Form 159, the following filing 
instructions apply to cable television systems and CARS licensees who choose not to pay using Fee 
Filer, or pay using their pre-filled Form 159-B:  
Block (9) - Telephone Number:
Ø Enter the contact name and telephone number of the specific individual responsible for 
submitting the payment and supporting Form 159 and Form 159-C.
Block (11) - PAYER FRN:
Ø Enter the fee payer's FRN number.
Block (21) - APPLICANT FRN:
Ø If different from payer, enter the applicant's FRN number.
3
Block (23A) - FCC CALL SIGN/OTHER ID:
Ø For basic cable television subscriber fees, leave this block blank.  
Ø Enter the call sign for each CARS license.  Call signs must be entered in one of the two 
following formats: for fixed stations, the call sign is generally comprised of three letters, 
followed by a dash, followed by two or three numbers (e.g. WAL-504).  For mobile licenses, 
the call sign is generally comprised of two letters, followed by a dash, followed by five 
numbers (e.g. KB-60111).  This Block must be completed for each CARS license.
Block (24A) - PAYMENT TYPE CODE: 
Ø Enter 0771 when paying a regulatory fee for basic cable television subscribers. 
Ø Enter 0770 when paying a regulatory fee for a CARS license.
Block (25A) - QUANTITY:  
Ø For subscriber fees, enter your aggregate number of basic subscribers that you served on 
December 31, 2006.  For CARS licensees, enter "1" in this block for each call sign.
Block (27A) - TOTAL FEE:  
Ø For subscriber fees (payment type code 0771), multiply the amount in Block 25A (Quantity) by 
$0.75 and enter the result here.  Enter exact dollars and cents; do not round.
Ø For CARS licenses (payment type code 0770) enter $185.00.  
Block (28A) - FCC CODE 1:  Leave this block blank.
Block (29A) - FCC CODE 2:  Leave this block blank.
Block (30) - CERTIFICATION:
Ø Provide the printed name and signature of an individual owner/licensee or officer attesting to 
the accuracy and completeness of the information supplied.
Please include a daytime telephone number so that we can contact you if questions arise 
regarding your payment.
- FCC -