DA 21-1135 FY 2021 REGULATORY FEES – INTERNATIONAL AND SATELLITE SERVICES On August 26, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 21-98 (FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Report and Order). This document is available for viewing at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees. The Commission’s automated filing and payment system (Fee Filer) is now available for filing and viewing of FY 2021 regulatory fees. Regulatory fee payments MUST BE RECEIVED by the Commission no later than 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, on September 24, 2021. The Commission has instituted a mandatory electronic payment policy, which means that licensees will not be able to make regulatory fee payments by check, money order, or cashier’s check. Only credit card, ACH, debit cards, and wire transfer payments will be accepted. Please make sure that your electronic fee payment is made and the transaction is complete by the due date of FY 2021 regulatory fees. While FY 2021 regulatory fees will not become effective until the rulemaking is published in the Federal Register, regulatees, at their own discretion, may submit payments at any time before the FY 2021 regulatory fees due date.  Commission licensees and regulatees should consult the FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Report and Order for specific information concerning regulatory fee payment obligations, the regulatory fee process, and regulatory fee requirements for payment. The Commission also publishes industry-specific guidance in FY 2021 - Who Owes Fees and What Is My Fee, and can be found on the Commission website at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees. This Fact Sheet applies to providers of international bearer circuits, earth station licensees, geostationary orbit (GSO) space station licensees, non-geostationary satellite orbit systems (NGSO) licensees, non-U.S. licensed GSO space stations granted market access to the United States, non-U.S. licensed NGSO systems granted market access to the United States, and submarine cable licensees. Licensees and market access grantees owe regulatory fees for each license and market access grant held as of October 1, 2020, and payment is due even if a license or market access grant expired after October 1, 2020. In instances where a license or authorization is transferred or assigned after October 1, 2020, 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. If an earth station’s license limits its operational authority to a particular satellite system that is not yet operational, a regulatory fee payment for the earth station is not due until the first satellite in the system becomes operational pursuant to section 25.121(d) of our rules. Earth Stations Who Must Pay: VSAT and Equivalent C-Band Antennas: These facilities are earth station systems comprising very small aperture terminals making up authorized networks operating in the 12 and 14 GHz bands that provide a variety of communications services to other stations in the network. Each system, authorized pursuant to blanket licensing procedures in Part 25 of the Commission’s rules, consists of a network of technically-identical small fixed-satellite earth stations which often includes a larger hub station. Entities holding these types of authorizations will be assessed a regulatory fee per authorization or registration, as well as a fee for each associated Hub Station. Mobile Satellite Earth Stations: Mobile satellite service providers operate under blanket licenses for mobile antennas (transceivers) which are smaller than one meter and provide voice or data communications, including position location information, for mobile platforms such as cars, buses, or trucks. Earth Station Antennas: Transmit/Receive and Transmit-Only Antennas: These licensees include private carriers and common carriers that operate fixed-satellite earth station antennas to provide telephone, television, data, and other forms of communication, including antennas used to transmit and receive and transmit-only. Also included in this category are telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) earth stations and transportable earth stations. Earth Station Antennas: Receive-Only Antennas: The Commission does not assess regulatory fees for receive-only earth station antennas. Notice of Billing: Earth Station licensees will not receive a pre-completed regulatory fee bill (FCC Form 159-B) in the mail for their Earth Station licenses. A regulatory fee bill will be created and placed in Fee Filer for payment. Earth Station licensees are also required to make regulatory fee payments for all other regulatory fees that they owe. Fee Calculation: $595 per license or authorization, and $595 for each associated Hub Station. Geostationary Orbit Space Stations Notice of Billing: GSO space station licensees and market access grantees will not receive a pre-printed regulatory fee bill (FCC Form 159-B) from the Commission for their satellite space station authorization(s). A regulatory fee bill will be created and placed in Fee Filer for payment. GSO space station licensees and market access grantees are also required to make regulatory fee payments for all other regulatory fees that they owe. Who Must Pay: Entities authorized to operate satellite systems in geostationary orbit under Part 25 that provide communications between satellites and earth stations on a common carrier or private carrier basis. U.S. licensed GSO space stations and, beginning in FY 2020, non-U.S. licensed GSO space stations granted market access to the United States through a Petition for Declaratory Ruling or through Earth Station licenses are subject to FY 2021 regulatory fees. Fee Calculation: $116,855 per operational space station in geostationary orbit in accordance with section 25.121(d)(1) as of October 1, 2020. A fee payment is required “upon the commencement of operation of a system’s first satellite as reported annually pursuant to sections 25.142(c), 25.143(e), 25.145(g), or upon certification of operation of a single satellite pursuant to section 25.121(d).” Multiple technically identical geostationary satellites collocated at the same orbital location will be considered one station for the purpose of per-space station regulatory fee calculation. Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit Systems Notice of Billing: NGSO systems and market access grantees will not receive a pre-printed regulatory fee bill (FCC Form 159-B) from the Commission for their satellite systems authorization(s). A regulatory fee bill will be created and placed in Fee Filer for payment. NGSO systems and market access grantees are also required to make regulatory fee payments for all other regulatory fees that they owe. Who Must Pay: Entities authorized to operate satellite systems in non-geostationary orbit under Part 25 that provide communications between satellites and earth stations on a common carrier or private carrier basis. U.S. licensed NGSO space stations and, beginning in FY 2020, non-U.S. licensed NGSO space stations granted market access to the United States through a Petition for Declaratory Ruling or through Earth Station licenses are subject to FY 2021 regulatory fees. Also, beginning in FY 2021, there are two subcategories of NGSO space stations: (a) Non-Geostationary Space Stations – Other, and (b) Non-Geostationary Space Stations – Less Complex. “Less Complex” systems are defined as NGSO systems planning to communicate with 20 or fewer U.S. authorized earth stations The U.S. authorized earth stations include those earth stations that are or will be operating pursuant to an FCC license or have been authorized by other U.S. federal government agencies and include earth stations located on U.S.-registered vessels or aircraft. that are primarily used for Earth Exploration Satellite Service (EESS) and/or Automatic Identification System (AIS). The remaining NGSO space stations that do not meet the “less complex” criteria are considered “Other” NGSO systems. Fee Calculation: NGSO space stations – Other owe a fee of $343,555 per operational system in non-geostationary orbit. A low Earth orbit (LEO) system consists of one or more satellites operating in a non-geostationary satellite constellation. Payment is required for any LEO system that has one or more satellites operating pursuant to sections 25.142(c), 25.143(e), 25.145(g), or upon certification of operation of a single satellite pursuant to section 25.121(d) as of October 1, 2020. NGSO space stations – Less Complex owe a fee of $122,695 per operational system in non-geostationary orbit. A fee payment is required “upon the commencement of operation of a system's first satellite as reported annually pursuant to sections 25.142(c), 25.143(e), 25.145(g), or upon certification of operation of a single satellite pursuant to section 25.121(d)(2).” International Bearer Circuits Who Must Pay: International Terrestrial and Satellite.  Regulatory fees for International Bearer Circuits are to be paid by facilities-based common carriers that have active (used or leased) international bearer circuits as of December 31, 2020 in any terrestrial or satellite transmission facility for the provision of service to an end user or resale carrier, which includes active circuits to themselves or to their affiliates.   In addition, non-common carrier terrestrial and satellite operators must pay a fee for each circuit sold or leased to any customer, including themselves or their affiliates, other than an international common carrier authorized by the Commission to provide U.S. international common carrier services.  “Active circuits” for these purposes include backup and redundant circuits.  In addition, whether circuits are used specifically for voice or data is not relevant in determining that they are active circuits. Fee Calculation: $43 per active Gbps. TYPE OF FEE REGULATORY FEE PAYMENT PAYMENT TYPE CODE International Bearer Circuits: Terrestrial Common Carrier and Non-Common Carrier; Satellite Common Carrier and Non-Common Carrier. Active capacity as of December 31, 2020 $43 per active Gbps 2176 Submarine Cable Systems Submarine Cable:  Regulatory fees for submarine cable systems will be paid, per cable landing license, for all submarine cable systems operating as of December 31, 2020. Capacity for calculating fees should be based on “lit” capacity.    To calculate your submarine cable regulatory fees, sum up your submarine cable “lit” capacities by cable system (on a Gbps basis), and determine your regulatory fee amount and payment type code using the table below. Enter this fee amount and payment type code in the Commission’s Fee Filer system. This methodology should not distinguish between submarine cable systems operating on a common carrier or non-common basis. The licensee is responsible for determining and certifying the accuracy of the amount of lit capacity in its system. The Commission will only accept a single payment for the full regulatory fee obligation for each international submarine cable license. Therefore, for submarine cable systems with multiple owners, the owners need to determine their respective portions of the fee, and submit a single, full payment of regulatory fees in Fee Filer. Each licensee of a submarine cable system is equally responsible for the payment of the regulatory fee. See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2008, Second Report and Order, 24 FCC Rcd 4208, 4212, 4215, paras. 6, 17 (Submarine Cable Fee Order). In the event of a non-payment or underpayment, the Commission will hold each and every licensee equally responsible for the regulatory fee obligation. Submarine Cable Systems (lit capacity as of December 31, 2020) Fee Ratio FY 2020 Regulatory Fees Less than 50 Gbps .0625 Units $9,495 50 Gbps or greater, but less than 250 Gbps .125 Units $18,990 250 Gbps or greater, but less than 1,500 Gbps .25 Units $37,980 1,500 Gbps or greater, but less than 3,500 Gbps .5 Units $75,955 3,500 Gbps or greater, but less than 6,500 Gbps 1.0 Unit $151,910 6,500 Gbps or greater 2.0 Units $303,820 International Public Fixed Radio and International (HF) Broadcast Stations The fee categories of International Public Fixed Radio and International High Frequency (HF) Broadcast Stations were eliminated from regulatory fee assessment on August 18, 2009. The elimination of these two categories is based on the Commission’s actions in the FY 2009 Regulatory Fees Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order and the FY 2009 Regulatory Fees Report and Order. See Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009, MD Docket No. 09-65, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order, 24 FCC Rcd 5966 (2009) (FY 2009 NPRM ); Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2009, MD Docket No. 09-65, Report and Order, 24 FCC Rcd 10301 (2009) (FY 2009 Report and Order). Hence, there is no regulatory fee obligation for licensees holding International Public Fixed Radio and International (HF) Broadcast Station licenses. Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) Regulatory Fee In FY 2015, The Commission instituted a new DBS fee to be paid on a per subscriber basis. For additional guidance on how to pay this fee, please see What You Owe – Cable Television Systems for FY 2021 Fact Sheet, which can be found on the Commission website at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees. SUMMARY OF FEES FOR INTERNATIONAL SERVICES TYPE OF FEE REGULATORY FEE PAYMENT PAYMENT TYPE CODE Earth Stations $595 per station or Hub Station 2173 Geostationary Orbit Space Stations and Direct Broadcast Satellite Service Licensees; U.S. licensed, and non-U.S. licensed space stations that have gained access through a Petition for Declaratory Ruling and through Earth Station licenses $116,855 per operational station 2174 Non-Geostationary Orbit Satellite Systems - Other; U.S. licensed, and non-U.S. licensed space stations that have gained access through a Petition for Declaratory Ruling and through Earth Station licenses $343,555 per operational system 2175 Non-Geostationary Orbit Satellite Systems – Less Complex; U.S. licensed, and non-U.S. licensed space stations that have gained access through a Petition for Declaratory Ruling and through Earth Station licenses $122,695 per operational system 2177 International Bearer Circuits: Terrestrial Common Carrier and Non-Common Carrier; Satellite Common Carrier and Non-Common Carrier (active capacity as of December 31, 2020) $43 per active Gbps 2176 Submarine Cable Systems (lit capacity as of December 31, 2020) Less than 50 Gbps $9,495 2186 50 Gbps or greater, but less than 250 Gbps $18,990 2187 250 Gbps or greater, but less than 1,500 Gbps $37,980 2188 1,500 Gbps or greater, but less than 3,500 Gbps $75,955 2189 3,500 Gbps or greater, but less than 6,500 Gbps $151,910 2190 6,500 Gbps or greater $303,820 2109 * Equivalent circuits include the 64 KB circuit equivalent of larger bit stream circuits (e.g., the 64 KB equivalent of a 2.048 MB circuit is 30) and analog circuits such as 3 and 4 KHz circuits used for international services. The number of equivalent 64 KB circuits for analog television channels is given by the following table: ANALOG TELEVISION CHANNEL SIZE (MHz) NO. OF EQUIVALENT 64 KB CIRCUITS 36 630 24 288 18 240 Actual Speed in 64 Kbps Units 1 T1 24 1 E1 30 1 DS3 630 1 STM 1,890 5 Gbps 60,480 10 Gbps 120,960 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 review their data and submit an electronic fee payment. Use of the online Fee Filer system is mandatory, and payments in the form of checks, money orders, and cashier’s checks will not be accepted. 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. In making a wire transfer, please fax the “Wire Transfer Instructions” from Fee Filer to the Federal Communications Commission at (202) 418-2843, or send an e-mail to RROGWIREFAXES@fcc.gov at least one hour before initiating the wire transfer (but on the same business day) so as not to delay crediting their account. These Wire Transfer Instructions contain valuable information (e.g. FRN, Voucher Number, Payer Name, and the Amount of the Wire) that will help to post the payment more quickly, and avoid costly delays that could result in penalties and interest for missing the payment due date. Please note that most wire transfers initiated after 6:00 p.m. (EDT) will be credited the next business day. DE MINIMIS REGULATORY FEE LEVEL Regulatees whose total FY 2021 annual regulatory fee liability, including all categories of fees for which payment is due, is $1,000 or less are exempt from payment of FY 2021 regulatory fees. The de minimis threshold applies only to filers of annual regulatory fees (not regulatory fees paid through multi-year filings), and it is not a permanent exemption. Rather, each regulatee will need to re-evaluate and re-calculate its regulatory fee liability each year in order to determine whether they meet the de miminis exemption. Regulatees are responsible for calculating their own total fee obligation to determine whether they qualify for this de minimis exemption. The Commission reserves the right to request documentation that supports a de minimis exemption claim. LIMITATIONS ON CREDIT CARD TRANSACTIONS In accordance with U.S. Treasury Announcement No. A-2014-04 (July 2014), the amount that can be charged on a credit card for transactions with the federal government is $24,999.99. Customers who owe an amount on a bill, debt, or other obligation due to the federal government are prohibited from splitting the total amount due into multiple payments. Splitting an amount owed into several payment transactions violates the credit card network and Fiscal Service rules. An amount owed that exceeds the Fiscal Service maximum dollar amount, $24,999.99, may not be split into two or more payment transactions in the same day by using one or multiple cards. Also, an amount owed that exceeds the Fiscal Service maximum dollar amount may not be split into two or more transactions over multiple days by using one or more cards. Transactions greater than $24,999.99 will be rejected. This limit applies to single payments or bundled payments of more than one bill. Multiple transactions to a single agency in one day may be aggregated and treated as a single transaction subject to the $24,999.99 limit. Customers who wish to pay an amount greater than $24,999.99 should consider available electronic alternatives such as Visa or MasterCard debit cards, ACH debits from a bank account, and wire transfers. Each of these payment options is available after filing regulatory fee information in Fee Filer. Further details will be provided regarding payment methods and procedures at the time of FY 2020 regulatory fee collection in Fact Sheets, available at https://www.fcc.gov/regfees. Regulatory fee payments that exceed the U.S. Treasury limit and are rejected by Treasury, causing a payment to miss the deadline, will be subject to interest, fees, and a 25 percent late payment penalty. -FCC- 2