[BARC-List] You thinking about getting a vanity call sign?

[Arthur N1NHZ]

>Subject: ARLX007 FCC upholds vanity fee policy, sets new fee start date
>Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 14:20:34 -0400
>To: aais@earthlink.net
>CC: Subscribed ARRL Members: ;
>From: "ARRL Web site" <memberlist@www.arrl.org>
>
>SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX007
>ARLX007 FCC upholds vanity fee policy, sets new fee start date
>
>ZCZC AX07
>QST de W1AW
>Special Bulletin 7  ARLX007
> From ARRL Headquarters
>Newington CT  July 31, 2003
>To all radio amateurs
>
>SB SPCL ARL ARLX007
>ARLX007 FCC upholds vanity fee policy, sets new fee start date
>
>The FCC has announced that the new Amateur Radio vanity call sign
>regulatory fee of $16.30 for the 10-year license term will go into
>effect September 9. Until then, applicants for amateur vanity call
>signs will continue to pay the current $14.50 fee per vanity call
>sign application. The FCC says it expects to collect close to
>$160,000 from 9800 Amateur Radio vanity call sign applicants during
>Fiscal Year 2003. That's up by almost $30,000 and 800 applications
>from FY2002.
>
>In releasing its annual Report and Order on the assessment and
>collection of regulatory fees for FY2003, the FCC responded at some
>length to comments filed from the amateur community. Some commenters
>had questioned the need for the fee, the requirement to pay it when
>renewing a vanity call sign and why refunds were not automatic.
>
>Telecommunications Act provisions governing regulatory fee
>assessment cover applications for vanity call signs, which, the FCC
>said, "are voluntarily requested by licensees" and are "a
>value-added benefit not afforded to all licensees." Assessment of a
>regulatory fee to cover the FCC's processing and enforcement costs
>to make the vanity call sign service available is reasonable, the
>FCC concluded.
>
>The FCC said its current policy of assessing "a nominal fee" at the
>time of initial application and at each renewal also allows greater
>access to vanity call signs. "A high one-time-only fee would be cost
>prohibitive for many entities wishing to obtain a vanity call sign,"
>the Commission said. The Commission also said it incurs costs to
>manage each vanity call sign throughout its existence, not just in
>the first 10 years.
>
>Regarding refunds due when the FCC denies an application, the FCC
>said its rules require a written request from applicants before it
>can process refunds of regulatory fees. "The written request serves
>as documentation when cross-referencing each unique file number that
>may be entitled to a refund," the FCC added.
>
>The FCC said the documentation was particularly important in the
>case of Amateur Radio vanity applications, "because filing trends
>indicate that some applicants file several vanity call sign
>applications per day for several days on end." Requiring a written
>request makes it easier to certify "which fees are to be refunded
>for which dismissed applications," the Commission said. In addition,
>those processing applications in FCC bureaus and offices don't have
>the authority to issue refunds without proper documentation.
>
>A copy of the Report and Order is available on the FCC Web site at,
>http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-184A1.doc.
>NNNN
>/EX

de Arthur  N1NHZ, 73
Boston (MA) Amateur Radio Club
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