SB QST @ ARL $ARLB020   
   ARLB020 Vanity Call Sign Fee to Increase September 4   
      
   ZCZC AG21   
   QST de W1AW     
   ARRL Bulletin 20  ARLB020   
   From ARRL Headquarters     
   Newington CT  August 14, 2012   
   To all radio amateurs    
      
   SB QST ARL ARLB020   
   ARLB020 Vanity Call Sign Fee to Increase September 4   
      
   On August 3, the FCC announced via a Final Rule in the Federal   
   Register that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will   
   increase 80 cents, from $14.20 to $15.  The new fees take effect 30   
   days after publication, making September 4, 2012, the first day the   
   new fee is in effect. Earlier this year, the FCC released a Notice   
   of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM), seeking to raise the fee   
   for Amateur Radio vanity call signs.   
      
   The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when   
   applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity   
   call sign for a new 10 year term. The first vanity call sign   
   licenses issued under the current Amateur Radio vanity call sign   
   program that began in 1996 came up for renewal six years ago.   
      
   The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, as amended   
   to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated   
   with that program. According to the FCC, the fees that are collected   
   from vanity call signs are used to offset the cost of monitoring and   
   researching new call sign requests to prevent the issuance of   
   duplicate call signs. When asked why the fee is payable upon   
   renewal, the FCC stated in 2011 that "[m]ore than likely, fees that   
   are collected only on new issues and at the time of changes in call   
   signs will not generate sufficient revenues to offset the cost of   
   managing and monitoring this work at the Commission, the FCC stated   
   in 2011. Therefore, we conclude that the basis upon which the   
   Commission collects fees on Amateur Radio Vanity call signs will not   
   change."   
      
   The vanity call sign fee has fluctuated over the 16 years of the   
   current program -- from a low of $11.70 in 2007 to a high of $70 (as   
   first proposed in the FCC's 1994 Report and Order). In Fiscal Year   
   2012, the FCC expects to grant 14,300 vanity call signs, bringing in   
   $214,500 from the vanity call sign program, and looks to recover a   
   total of $339,844,000 in fees from all the Services that it   
   regulates.   
   NNNN   
   /EX   
      
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