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Yesterday, the FCC released its Report and Order adopting a schedule of regulatory fees to cover the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2026 salaries and expenses appropriation of $416,112,000.00.  The Order largely follows the approach set out in the FCC’s April 2026 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”), continuing the full-time employee (“FTE”)-based methodology the FCC has used in recent years and again reallocating certain FTEs from indirect FTEs of the Office of General Counsel, Office of Economics and Analytics, and Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, to direct FTEs of various of the core licensing bureaus.

The Order largely adopts the proposals made in the NPRM, except with respect to three FTEs.  Specifically, while the NPRM proposed to reallocate two FTEs from direct FTEs of the Media Bureau to indirect FTEs of the Enforcement Bureau, the Order declines to do so, finding on further review that the work of those FTEs directly benefits Media Bureau fee payors.  In addition, the Commission reallocated one additional indirect FTE from the Office of General Counsel as direct to the Media Bureau based on increased OGC work on Media Bureau matters this year.

The net result is 62 FTEs reallocated as direct to the various core bureaus (versus the 59 net proposed in the NPRM), with the Media Bureau receiving 10 reallocated FTEs rather than the 7 originally proposed.  The Order also increases the number of radio station payors over which the regulatory fees will be spread compared to that in its original fee proposal, so individual radio station regulatory fees will be slightly lower than those originally proposed.  Because there was no similar adjustment to the number of TV payors, TV stations will see the effect of the additional three Media Bureau FTEs, resulting in slightly higher fees on the TV side.

The Order rejected broadcasters’ requests to reduce the fee burden on existing payor categories by adopting new fee payor categories (such as an equipment certification lab category or new categories for experimental licenses and unlicensed spectrum users).  In declining that request, the Order simply asserts a lack of “detailed evidence of materially changed circumstances” to justify a departure from the Commission’s past determinations.  The Order also declined requests to increase the de minimis fee exemption threshold from $1,000 to $1,200.

On the Space Bureau side, the Order similarly refused to create requested new fee payor categories for experimental licenses, unlicensed use, and automated frequency coordination systems, and made adjustments to the number of payors based on updated data provided by commenters such as SES, Spire, and Eutelsat.  The Order declined requests from satellite and earth station operators to help moderate year to year swings in their fee obligations by capping or phasing in fee increases or delaying them pending completion of the ongoing Space Modernization rulemaking.

Based on past years, we expect the FCC to soon release a Public Notice announcing that the Commission’s Registration System (CORES) is ready to accept FY 2026 regulatory fee payments and establishing a late September deadline for the fee payments to be made.

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Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published the FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes:

  • Georgia GMRS Licensee Receives Notice of Violation for Improperly Linking Repeaters
  • FCC Cites Electronic Billboard Owner in Colorado for Years of Harmful Interference
  • Three Texas FM Translators Cited for Retransmitting Wrong Primary Station

Improperly Linked Repeaters Generate Notice of Violation for Georgia GMRS Licensee

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to a Georgia General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) licensee for improperly linking multiple GMRS repeaters via the internet.  Linking the repeaters allowed them to simultaneously retransmit radio messages over a larger geographic area than permitted under FCC rules.

GMRS is a mobile two-way voice communications service used for local communications needs such as vehicle to vehicle, neighborhood watch, and outdoor group activities.  It relies on only eight frequency pairs nationwide, which the FCC states are shared by more than 300,000 active GMRS licensees and millions of Family Radio Service users.  Because the available spectrum is limited, GMRS licensees must cooperate in the use of the frequencies.  GMRS was created as a service for relatively short-range communications, and as a result, the same frequency can be used in multiple locations as long as the distance between those locations is sufficient to prevent interference from occurring.

According to the NOV, Enforcement Bureau agents from the FCC’s Atlanta office monitored several repeaters owned by the licensee in February 2026.  Their investigation indicated that the repeaters were connected through the internet, but that the internet connections were not being used solely to control the stations remotely.  Instead, they were used to send voice messages to multiple repeaters for simultaneous transmission over their respective frequencies.

The NOV states that “[l]inking multiple repeaters is not in the public interest because it enables the retransmission of messages over much larger geographic areas, thereby limiting localized availability of the GMRS channels, monopolizing a limited spectrum resource, and increasing the potential for interference.”  FCC rules permit GMRS repeaters to be connected to telephone networks or the internet only for the purpose of remotely controlling a GMRS station, not for relaying messages that are then retransmitted by that station.

The NOV requires the licensee to submit a written response within 20 days fully explaining the alleged violation and the surrounding facts and circumstances, including the specific actions taken to correct the violation and prevent recurrence.  The response must include a timeline for completing any pending corrective actions and be supported by an affidavit or declaration from the licensee under penalty of perjury.  While the NOV does not itself impose a fine, the FCC may take additional enforcement action after reviewing the response, including issuing a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture.

Electronic Billboards Cause Harmful Interference to Wireless Communications

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issued a Citation and Order (Citation) to the operator of two electronic billboards in Colorado that the FCC says have caused harmful interference to a wireless carrier’s licensed communications network for more than four years.  The Citation directs the billboard operator to immediately stop using the interference-causing billboards, noting that future violations could result in fines of up to $25,132 per day for each device causing harmful interference.

The FCC began its investigation in January 2022 after receiving a complaint of radiofrequency interference in the 600 MHz and 700 MHz bands at a nearby wireless communications site.  FCC agents traced the interference to two electronic billboards mounted atop a building.  In April 2022, the Enforcement Bureau sent the billboard operator a warning letter explaining that the billboards were causing harmful interference to licensed wireless operations and directing that their operation be discontinued immediately. Continue reading →