Fees for Ancillary or Supplementary Use of Digital Television Spectrum Pursuant to Section 336(e)(1) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996

Résumé

This Notice of Proposed Rule Making implements Section 336 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (``1996 Act'') which requires the Commission to establish a program to assess and collect fees for digital television (DTV) licensees' use of DTV capacity for the provision of ancillary or supplementary services. The statute requires the imposition of a fee where DTV licensees use their capacity for services for which the payment of a subscription fee is required or where the licensee receives revenues from a third party other than advertising revenues in return for transmitting material furnished by the third party. With this Notice of Proposed Rule Making, the Commission seeks comment on various methods by which such fees might be assessed including a fee assessed as a percentage of gross revenues received from the ancillary or supplementary use of DTV capacity, a fee based on net revenues or incremental profits received from the ancillary or supplementary services provided, or a fee based upon a combination of a flat rate and a percentage of revenues.