PITTSBURGH, September 1, 2020 – ACA Connects President and CEO Matthew M. Polka issued the following statement in connection with the release of the Federal Communications Commission’s regulatory fee schedule for fiscal year 2020:
“ACA Connects is pleased that the FCC continued its phase-in of the regulatory fee assessed on Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) providers to support the work of the Media Bureau. For Fiscal Year 2020, the gap between regulatory fees paid by cable/IPTV providers and the lower fees assessed on DBS providers narrowed by nine cents per subscriber.
“That said, next year the FCC must eliminate this long-inexplicable disparity between cable/IPTV and DBS regulatory fees once and for all. Cable/IPTV and DBS providers are all MVPDs that equally utilize Media Bureau resources and therefore should be assessed the same regulatory fee for Media Bureau activities.
“The DBS industry is mature and its two providers, AT&T/DirecTV and DISH, are not exactly fledglings. It is time to stop treating them with kid gloves, and stop having smaller MVPDs subsidize them through higher per-subscriber regulatory fees.”
About ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association – Based in Pittsburgh, ACA Connects is a trade organization representing more than 700 smaller and medium-sized, independent companies that provide broadband, phone and video services to nearly 8 million customers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA Connects’ members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their businesses. For more information, visit: https://www.acaconnects.org