The American Cable Association wants the FCC to apply its regulatory fees to telco and satellite video distributors, ACA said in comments to the FCC on Monday.
ACA says IPTV providers are sufficiently similar to cable
services that they should be assessed similar regulatory fees. It also says
that would avoid "distortions in the marketplace" when a competitor
does not have to pay regulatory fees levied on others.
ACA says the FCC should continue to charge on a per-sub
basis -- ACA represents smaller systems with fewer subs -- and wants satellite
providers to have to pay in on the same, per-sub, basis as cable operators
rather than per satellite-license. "This much-needed regulatory reform
will ensure regulatory parity between cable operators and DBS providers,"
ACA says. "The Commission has ample authority to undertake this reform
given the regulation and benefits that DBS providers receive from the Media
Bureau."
TheFCC in May sought comment on proposals to changes to its fees, including
possibly applying them to over-the-top providers.
The FCC covers its expenses for regulating out
of the fees it collects from those being regulated and based on how much time
each full-time employee (FETs) of a commission bureau -- media, wireless, wireline
or international -- devotes to each service.
