Foreign-Flagged Satellite Operators Push Against Regulatory Fee Proposal
Ray Baum's Act addresses how the FCC adjusts its regulatory fee schedule but doesn't give the agency authority to charge those fees to foreign-licensed satellite systems, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, Telesat, ViaSat, Kepler and OneWeb representatives told International Bureau and Office of…
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the Managing Director staffers. That's according to a docket 19-105 posting Tuesday. The fees are proposed as part of the FY 2020 fee schedule (see 1912090053). Most pay "substantial" fees to their home jurisdictions, and might respond to the FCC by raising their own fees, the satellite operators said. They said market access grants aren't licenses, so charging foreign-flagged systems wouldn't be consistent with how the FCC charges U.S.-licensed systems. Most had a similar meeting with the Office of General Counsel.