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Vanity Call Sign Fee to Drop September 6

NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 1, 2006--The regulatory fee to obtain or renew an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will drop slightly starting with applications received by the FCC on or after Wednesday, September 6, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) says. The new fee will be $20.80 for the 10-year license term. This year promises to be a big one for vanity call sign renewals, since the initial round of vanity grants under the current system occurred in 1996. Licensees who want to retain vanity call signs issued under the current (post-1995) system must pay the regulatory fee when renewing.

"Consistent with our established practice, we plan to collect these regulatory fees in the August-September 2006 time frame in order to collect the required amount by the end of the fiscal year," the FCC explained in a July 17 Report and Order (R&O), "Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2006," in MD Docket 06-68. The FY 2006 vanity fee is a bit higher than the $20.10 for the license term that the Commission had proposed in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making last March. The current vanity call sign fee of $21.90 remains in effect for applications received by the FCC before September 6.

License Renewal

Amateur Radio licensees may file renewal applications no sooner than 90 days of their license expiration date. While the regulatory fee payment is required from licensees wishing to keep their current vanity call signs after renewal, vanity holders can opt to get a sequential call sign and avoid paying any fee when they renew. The WTB clarified filing procedures earlier this year in a public notice.

ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, says the FCC handled the Gate 1 vanity call sign license renewals from June without any delay or problems. "I'm sure Gate 2 will go just as smoothly if you use one of the automated methods of filing, such as via the ARRL or using the Universal Licensing System (ULS)," she predicted. "Paper filings to the FCC can be confusing and difficult." The FCC renewed nearly 3000 vanity call sign licenses during June and July.

Amateur Radio licensees holding vanity call signs granted prior to 1996 do not have to pay a regulatory fee when renewing. This is because Congress did not begin requiring the FCC to annually recover its regulatory costs until 1993. Additionally, such licensees are not specifically tagged as vanity call sign holders in the ULS.

Renewing a Vanity License through ARRL

The ARRL VEC will process license renewals for vanity call sign holders for a modest fee (see "Processing Fee Schedule"). The service is available to ARRL members and nonmembers, although League members pay less. Routine, non-vanity renewals continue to be free for ARRL members. Trustees of club stations with vanity call signs may renew either via the ULS or through a Club Station Call Sign Administrator, such as ARRL VEC.

League members should visit the "ARRL Member Instructions for License Renewals or Changes" page. The "Instructions for License Renewals or Changes" page covers general renewal procedures for nonmembers. There's additional information on the ARRL VEC's "FCC License Renewals and ARRL License Expiration Notices" page.

Doing It Yourself

Somma says the ARRL's new license renewal/modification Web pages contain complete information on license-filing procedures, including step-by-step instructions on how to renew or update a license using the ULS.

To renew via the ULS, licensees should log into ULS License Manager Online Filing (click on "Log In") using their FCC Registration Number (FRN) and Commission Registration System (CORES) password. Anyone doing business with the FCC must supply an FRN on any application. Obtain an FRN by visiting the ULS and clicking on the "New Users Register" link. Applicants must supply their Social Security Number to obtain an FRN.

Licensees who want to keep a vanity call sign should select "Renew" under the "Work on this License" option. Fees for electronically filed applications may be paid online or mailed to Federal Communications Commission, Wireless Bureau Applications, PO Box 979097, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000.

Regulatory Fees = Big Bucks

The FCC is obligated to collect nearly $289 million in regulatory fees from various radio services during FY 2006 to fund its operations -- up by nearly 7 percent from FY 2005 -- plus another $10 million allocated across all radio service categories, which may explain the upward revision in the Amateur Radio vanity fee from the figure the Commission had proposed in March.

The FCC plans to collect $171,188 in Amateur Radio vanity call sign fee receipts from 8500 applications during FY 2006, up from $166,443 in FY 2005.

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