Public comments to the FCC about the best way to collect regulatory fees from the industries it oversees are due in September.
The agency says a lot has changed in the telecom marketplace since its current system for assessing and collecting regulatory fees was enacted in 1994.
Back then, commission regulation centered mostly on wired local and long distance. But then the wireless industry exploded, shifting agency resources to that industry. Now, telephone companies have entered the video market, cable operators are winning voice customers, satellite operators offer competitive radio, television and broadband services and wireless services abound.
The commission calculates fees based on the nature of its employees work for each industry.
Comments to MD Docket 12-201 are due Sept. 12.
The actual fees for this year are due by Sept. 13.
