Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update—newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP are reproduced in this section with the firm's permission. 
| BloostonLaw Telecom Update | Vol. 16, No. 30 | August 23, 2013 |
The BloostonLaw Telecom Update newsletter will be on our traditional August recess, in light of the usual slowdown in the news cycle. We will resume publication on September 4. Meanwhile, we will keep clients apprised of significant developments via memos and special supplements. Special Issue Regulatory Fee Payments Due September 20, 2013 The FCC has just announced in today's Federal Register that all regulatory fee payments for fiscal year 2013 will be due no later than on Friday, September 20, 2013. However, as discussed below, the FCC's financial management software has been known to put licensees into "red light" status even when they have timely paid their regulatory fees, if the fee payment has not been processed by the deadline. Therefore, we recommend submitting the fee payment several days before the September 20, 2013 deadline. New Developments
Starting this year, the FCC is phasing in changes to the its regulatory fee collection program that are designed to improve the collection and accounting of regulatory fees, and to attribute fees in a manner that is consistent with the allocation of the FCC's costs to regulate various industry areas. As a result of this reallocation, several fees will be increase while others will decrease. BRS/LMDS: New this year, the FCC will be issuing invoices for regulatory fees associated with BRS and LMDS licenses. These invoices will not be mailed, but will be viewable in the FCC's Fee Filer system. Allocation of Fee Burden: The FCC is in the process of updating its allocation of full-time equivalents (FTEs) for purposes of collecting regulatory fees. The current allocation is based upon data that was collected in FY1998 and is now 15 years out-of-date. As a result, the FCC is now using data from FY2012 in order to apportion the regulatory fee obligations against the different regulatory activities throughout the Commission. Additionally, the FCC has recognized that a significant portion of the International Bureau provides regulatory support to other industry areas, including wireless and wireline in issues involving international treaty obligations. As a result, there will be a change in the apportionment of fees, with Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers ("ITSPs") seeing a reduction and others seeing increases. For FY2013, the FCC is capping increases at 7.5% in order to prevent sudden and large changes in the amount of fees that are being paid by various classes of regulates. No Payment by Check after Sept. 30: Beginning in FY2014 (October 1, 2013), the FCC will no longer accept paper checks as payment for regulatory fees. This initiative is part of the US Treasury's effort to operate in a paperless environment. This means that beginning with any regulatory fee payment made on or after October 1, 2013 (whether for the current year or a prior year), the FCC will require payments to be made electronically through the FCC's Fee Filer System in the form of an ACH payment from your bank account, a wire funds transfer or a credit card payment.
Also stating in FY2014, the FCC will expand its efforts to become paperless. As a result, it will no longer mail initial CMRS Assessments, and licensees will instead be required to review proposed assessments on-line. The FCC will provide more details as it modifies its computer systems to meet this initiative. Fee Schedule for FY2013
CMRS Mobile/Cellular/Cellularized SMR — $0.18 per subscriber unit (as of December 31, 2012)
CMRS Messaging Services (Paging, IMTS, non-Cellularized SMR) — $0.08 per subscriber unit (as of December 31, 2012)
Broadband Radio Service (formerly MDS/MMDS) — $510.00 per call sign (as of October 1, 2012)
Local Multipoint Distribution Service — $510.00 per call sign (as of October 1, 2012)
CARS stations — $475.00 (as of October 1, 2012)
Cable Television Systems — $1.02 per subscriber (as of December 31, 2012)
Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers – 0.00347 per revenue dollar
Earth Stations — $275.00 per call sign (as of October 1, 2012) Payment Instructions
Like last year, all regulatees that pay annually will be required to pay their regulatory fees via the Commission's online Fee Filer payment system. Certain Part 90 and Part 101 private radio licensees pay their regulatory fee every ten years with their license renewal application. Cellular, PCS, AWS, 700 MHz, Paging, SMR and most other CMRS/commercial licensees must pay annually. Regulatees will be required to access the Fee Filer system ( www.fcc.gov/fees/feefiler.html ) with their valid CORES FRN and password in order to initiate the process of filing their annual regulatory fees. For FY2013, payment may be made electronically through the Fee Filer system (ACH Payment or Credit Card) or by check or credit card information that is forwarded directly to the FCC's Lock Box at US Bank (although late payments after Sept. 30 cannot be by check). Additionally, you may also make payment by wire funds transfer directly to the US Treasury. Instructions for the wire transfer will be provided in our service-specific detailed memoranda. It is important to note that the FCC no longer mails out pre-bills for regulatory fees associated with Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers ("ITSPs"), Satellite Space Stations, holders of Cable Television Relay Service ("CARS") licenses, Earth Stations or CATV Systems. Instead, the FCC has placed its pre-bill information for these services its Fee Filer system, where they may be viewed and paid. If you chose to make payment by credit card, please note that the US Treasury permits a maximum charge of $99,999.99 from a single credit card per day. If your fee is greater than this amount, it will be necessary to pay by another method. If you choose to submit a payment by check or money order (as opposed to paying electronically via Fee Filer), a Form 159-E voucher, which is generated by the Fee Filer System, must accompany your payment. Please note that FCC recommends against submitting multiple Form 159-Es with a single payment (e.g., check, wire transfer, credit card, etc.). This is because it will increase the chance of errors in the FCC's processing of your annual regulatory fee payments and increase the likelihood of being placed in a red light status after the regulatory fee payment due date even though the payment(s) had actually been made in a timely manner. This is significant because any company that is "red lighted" is presumed by the FCC to be delinquent on its debts to the Government and therefore will not receive any benefits from the FCC (such as application grants or USF payments) until the matter is resolved. If you choose to send the payment and Form 159-E payment voucher via regular mail, the payment should be sent by certified mail, and the envelope should be addressed as follows: Federal Communications Commission
Regulatory Fees
P.O. Box 979084
St. Louis, MO 63197-9000
If, instead, you chose to send the payment and Form 159-E payment voucher by courier, two envelopes should be used. The outer envelope should be addressed, as follows: Federal Communications Commission
Regulatory Fees
c/o US Bank — Government Lock Box 979084
SL-MO-C2-GL
1005 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101
Attention: FCC Government Lock Box
The inner envelope should be addressed as follows: Federal Communications Commission
Regulatory Fees
P.O. Box 979084
St. Louis, MO 63197-9000
We caution that all regulatory fees must be paid by the Friday, September 20, 2013 filing deadline. A failure to successfully make the payment by this deadline will result in the imposition of a 25 percent late payment fee. Additionally, it is important to note that the FCC has started the practice of immediately placing any regulatee whose payment has not been received and processed by the filing deadline in a "red light" status. Thus, even if the payment has been timely made, you could end up being "red-lighted" if the FCC has not completed the processing of your payment prior to the September 20, 2013 filing deadline. As discussed above, being placed in a red light status could have adverse consequences since you will not receive any benefits from the FCC (such as application grants or USF payments) until the matter is resolved. The FCC has also indicated that immediately following the close of the regulatory fee payment window on Friday, September 20, 2013, it will transfer any unpaid regulatory fees to the US Treasury for collection. As a result, we anticipate that collection activities will be more aggressive, and that in addition to the 25% late fee imposed by the FCC for the late-payment of regulatory fees, that the US Treasury could impose additional penalties and interest as well. Exemptions from Regulatory Fees
Governmental entities and non-profit entities under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code are exempt from the payment of regulatory fees. Any entity claiming exempt status must submit (or have on file with the Commission) a valid IRS Determination Letter documenting its non-profit status or a certification from a governmental authority attesting to its exempt status. Finally, a regulatee will also be exempt from the payment of regulatory fees if the sum total of all of its regulatory fees owed is less than $10.00 . Please let us know if you have any questions or need any assistance with your regulatory fee payments. | 
David George and Bill Noyes
