Broadcasters Tell FCC to Expand Regulatory Fees to Big Tech, ISPs

WASHINGTON, May 29, 2026 – The nation's largest broadcast trade group has urged the Federal Communications Commission to force broadband providers and major technology companies to help fund the agency's operations.

The National Association of Broadcasters, a trade association that advocates on behalf of radio and television broadcasters, filed comments Thursday arguing that large technology firms and broadband internet providers benefit directly from the FCC's work but currently pay nothing toward it, leaving a shrinking pool of legacy industries to foot the bill.

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"It is neither fair nor sustainable for a small group of payors to retain the responsibility for funding the Commission's broad and growing portfolio of activities," NAB said in its filing.

The comments came in response to the FCC’s proposed rulemaking on regulatory fees for fiscal year 2026.

It is not the first time NAB has made this push. The group filed nearly identical arguments in July, urging the FCC to expand its fee base to include broadband service providers, equipment authorization holders, and major technology companies, a push the agency has so far resisted.

Rick Kaplan , general counsel and executive vice president of legal and regulatory affairs at NAB, signed both filings.

In its most recent filing, NAB said the FCC has repeatedly rejected proposals to add new fee categories, citing a lack of specificity. NAB pushed back, arguing that only the FCC has access to the internal staffing data needed to build a detailed case, an information gap that makes it impossible for outside parties to fully substantiate their proposals.

The 2026 filing also challenged a proposed 46 percent increase in earth station fees, from $2,060 to $3,010 per authorization, calling it disproportionate given that the Space Bureau cut its staff from 51 to 48 full-time employees. The bulk of that bureau's work centers on non-geostationary orbit satellites, not earth stations, NAB said, and costs should shift accordingly.

The trade group wants the FCC to raise its de minimis exemption threshold, the fee level below which collection costs outweigh revenue, from $1,000 to at least $1,200, pointing to FCC staff salaries that have risen significantly since the threshold was last adjusted in 2017.

NAB said it remains willing to work directly with FCC staff to find a workable methodology for calculating fees for broadband providers and technology companies.