d. Assignment or Transfer (per system). g. Special Temporary Authority or Waivers of Prior Construction Authorization (per request)......... h. Amendment of Application (per system)... i. Extension of Construction Permit (per system)... 15. Radio determination Satellite Earth Stations a. Initial Application of Blanket Authorization b. Initial Application for Individual Earth Station. c. Modification of License (per system).. e. Developmental Station 105.00 105.00 105.00 5,630.00 1,350.00 105.00 1,505.00 1,000.00 f. Renewal of License (per system). 105.00 g. Special Temporary Authority or Waivers of Prior Construction f. Amendment of Application b. Application for Authority to Launch & Operate (i) Initial Application.... (ii) Replacement Satellite c. Assignment or Transfer (per satellite) d. Modification.......... e. Special Temporary Authority or Waiver of Prior Construction Authorization (per request).. g. Extension of Construction Permit/Launch Authorization (per request)...... 17. Section 214 Applications a. Overseas Cable Construction... b. Cable Landing License (i) Common Carrier. (ii) Non-Common Carrier. c. Domestic Cable Construction d. All Other 214 Applications.. 70,000.00 70,000.00 5,000.00 5,000.00 500.00 1,000.00 500.00 9,125.00 1,025.00 10,150.00 610.00 610.00 e. Special Temporary Authority (all services). 610.00 f. Assignments or Transfers (all services).. 610.00 18. Recognized Private Operating Status (per application). 1. International Telecommunications Settlements Administrative Fee for Collections (per line item). 2.00 2. Radio Operator Examinations a. Commercial Radio Operator Examination 35.00 b. Renewal of Commercial Radio Operator License, Permit, or Certificate...... 35.00 c. Duplicate or Replacement Commercial Radio Operator License, Permit, or Certificate... 35.00 3. Ship Inspections a. Inspection of Oceangoing Vessels Under Title III, Part II of the Communications Act (per inspection). 620.00 b. Inspection of Passenger Vessels Under Title III, Part III of the Communications Act (per inspection). 320.00 c. Inspection of Vessels Under the Great Lakes Agreement (per inspection)....... 360.00 d. Inspection of Foreign Vessels Under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention (per inspection)..... e. Temporary Waiver for Compulsorily Equipped Vessel.. TITLE II-COMMON CARRIERS SERVICE AND CHARGES 540.00 60.00 SEC. 201. [47 U.S.C. 201] (a) It shall be the duty of every common carrier engaged in interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio to furnish such communication service upon reasonable request therefor; and, in accordance with the orders of the Commission, in cases where the Commission, after opportunity for hearing, finds such action necessary or desirable in the public interest, to establish physical connections with other carriers, to establish through routes and charges applicable thereto and the divisions of such charges, and to establish and provide facilities and regulations for operating such through routes. (b) All charges, practices, classifications, and regulations for and in connection with such communication service, shall be just and reasonable, and any such charge, practice, classification, or regulation that is unjust or unreasonable is hereby declared to be unlawful: Provided, That communications by wire or radio subject to this Act may be classified into day, night, repeated, unrepeated, letter, commercial, press, Government and such other classes as the Commission may decide to be just and reasonable, and different charges may be made for the different classes of comunications: Provided further, That nothing in this Act or in any other provision of law shall be construed to prevent a common carrier subject to this Act from entering into or operating under any contract with any common carrier not subject to this Act, for the exchange of their services, if the Commission is of the opinion that such contract is not contrary to the public interest: Provided further, That nothing in this Act or in any other provision of law shall prevent a common carrier subject to this Act from furnishing reports of positions of ships at sea to newspapers of general circulation, either at a nominal charge or without charge, provided the name of such common carrier is displayed along with such ship position reports. The Commissioner may prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary in the public interest to carry out the provisions of this Act.46 DISCRIMINATION AND PREFERENCES SEC. 202. [47 U.S.C. 202] (a) It shall be unlawful for any common carrier to make any unjust or unreasonable discrimination in charges, practices, classifications, regulations, facilities, or services for or in connection with like communication service, directly or indirectly, by any means or device, or to make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, class of persons, or locality, or to subject any particular 46 This proviso was added by an Act "To amend the Act approved June 19, 1934, entitled the 'Communication Act of 1934' Public Law 561, 75th Congress, approved May 31, 1938, 52 Stat. person, class of persons, or locality to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage. (b) Charges or services, whenever referred to in this Act, include charges for, or services in connection with, the use of common carrier lines of communication, whether derived from wire or radio facilities, in chain broadcasting or incidental to radio communication of any kind.47 (c) Any carrier who knowingly violates the provisions of this section shall forfeit to the United States the sum of $6,000 for each such offense and $300 for each and every day of the continuance of such offense. SCHEDULES OF CHARGES SEC. 203. [47 U.S.C. 203] (a) Every common carrier, except connecting carriers, shall, within such reasonable time as the Commission shall designate, file with the Commission and print and keep open for public inspection schedules showing all charges for itself and its connecting carriers for interstate and foreign wire or radio communication between the different points on its own system, and between points on its own system and points on the system of its connecting carriers or points on the system of any other carrier subject to this Act when a through route has been established, whether such charges are joint or separate, and showing the classifications, practices, and regulations affecting such charges. Such schedules shall contain such other information, and be printed in such form, and be posted and kept open for public inspection in such places, as the Commission may by regulation require, and each such schedule shall give notice of its effective date; and such common carrier shall furnish such schedules to each of its connecting carriers, and such connecting carriers shall keep such schedules open for inspection in such public places as the Commission may require. (b)(1) No change shall be made in the charges, classifications, regulations, or practices which have been so filed and published except after one hundred and twenty days notice to the Commission and to the public, which shall be published in such form and contain such information as the Commission may by regulations prescribe. (2) The Commission may, in its discretion and for good cause shown, modify any requirement made by or under the authority of this section either in particular instances or by general order applicable to special circumstances or conditions except that the Commission may not require the notice period specified in paragraph (1) to be more than one hundred and twenty days.48 (c) No carrier, unless otherwise provided by or under authority of this Act, shall engage or participate in such communication unless schedules have been filed and published in accordance with the provisions of this Act and with the regulations made thereunder; 47 Section 3002 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-239, 103 Stat. 2131, Dec. 19, 1989) increased penalties in sections 202(c), 203(e), 205(b), 214(d), 219(b), 220(d), 364, and 386 of the Communications Act. 48 Public Law 94-376, approved August 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1080, amended section 203(b) by making slight changes in language and by increasing the notice from thirty to ninety days. Public 101-396, approved Sept. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 848, 850, amended section 203(b) by increasing the notice from ninety to one hundred and twenty days. and no carrier shall (1) charge, demand, collect, or receive a greater or less or different compensation, for such communication, or for any service in connection therewith, between the points named in any such schedule than the charges specified in the schedule then in effect, or (2) refund or remit by any means or device any portion of the charges so specified, or (3) extend to any person any privileges or facilities, in such communication, or employ or enforce any classifications, regulations, or practices affecting such charges, except as specified in such schedule. (d) The Commission may reject and refuse to file any schedule entered for filing which does not provide and give lawful notice of its effective date. Any schedule so rejected by the Commission shall be void and its use shall be unlawful. (e) In case of failure or refusal on the part of any carrier to comply with the provisions of this section or of any regulation or order made by the Commission thereunder, such carrier shall forfeit to the United States the sum of $6,000 for each such offense, and $300 for each and every day of the continuance of such offense. HEARING AS TO LAWFULNESS OF NEW CHARGES; SUSPENSION SEC. 204. [47 U.S.C. 204] (a)(1) Whenever there is filed with the Commission any new or revised charge, classification, regulation, or practice, the Commission may either upon complaint or upon its own initiative without complaint, upon reasonable notice, enter upon a hearing concerning the lawfulness thereof; and pending such hearing and the decision thereon the Commission, upon delivering to the carrier or carriers affected thereby a statement in writing of its reasons for such suspension, may suspend the operation of such charge, classification, regulation, or practice, in whole or in part but not for a longer period than five months beyond the time when it would otherwise go into effect; and after full hearing the Commission may make such order with reference thereto as would be proper in a proceeding initiated after such charge, classification, regulation, or practice had become effective. If the proceeding has not been concluded and an order made within the period of the suspension, the proposed new or revised charge, classification, regulation, or practice shall go into effect at the end of such period; but in case of a proposed charge for a new service or an increased charge, the Commission may by order require the interested carrier or carriers to keep accurate account of all amounts received by reason of such charge for a new service or increased charge, specifying by whom and in whose behalf such amounts are paid, and upon completion of the hearing and decision may by further order require the interested carrier or carriers to refund, with interest, to the persons in whose behalf such amounts were paid, such portion of such charge for a new service or increased charges as by its decision shall be found not justified. At any hearing involving a charge increased, or sought to be increased, the burden of proof to show that the increased charge, or proposed charge, is just and reasonable shall be upon the carrier, and the Commission shall give to the hearing and decision of such questions preference over all other questions pending before it and decide the same as speedily as possible. (2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the Commission shall, with respect to any hearing under this section, issue an order concluding such hearing within 12 months after the date that the charge, classification, regulation, or practice subject to the hearing becomes effective, or within 15 months after such date if the hearing raises questions of fact of such extraordinary complexity that the questions cannot be resolved within 12 months. (B) The Commission shall, with respect to any such hearing initiated prior to the date of enactment of this paragraph, issue an order concluding the hearing not later than 12 months after such date of enactment. (C) Any order concluding a hearing under this section shall be a final order and may be appealed under section 402(a). (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Commission may allow part of a charge, classification, regulation, or practice to go into effect, based upon a written showing by the carrier or carriers affected, and an opportunity for written comment thereon by affected persons, that such partial authorization is just, fair, and reasonable. Additionally, or in combination with a partial authorization, the Commission, upon a similar showing, may allow all or part of a charge, classification, regulation, or practice to go into effect on a temporary basis pending further order of the Commission. Authorizations of temporary new or increased charges may include an accounting order of the type provided for in subsection (a).4 49 COMMISSION AUTHORIZED TO PRESCRIBE JUST AND REASONABLE CHARGES SEC. 205. [47 U.S.C. 205] (a) Whenever, after full opportunity for hearing, upon a complaint or under an order for investigation and hearing made by the Commission on its own initiative, the Commission shall be of opinion that any charge, classification, regulation, or practice of any carrier or carriers is or will be in violation of any of the provisions of this Act, the Commission is authorized and empowered to determine and prescribe what will be the just and reasonable charge or the maximum or minimum, or maximum and minimum, charge or charges to be thereafter observed, and what classification, regulation, or practice is or will be just, fair, and reasonable, to be thereafter followed, and to make an order that the carrier or carriers shall cease and desist from such violation to the extent that the Commission finds that the same does or will exist, and shall not thereafter publish, demand, or collect any charge other than the charge so prescribed, or in excess of the maximum or less than the minimum so prescribed, as the case may be, and shall adopt the classification and shall conform to and observe the regulation or practice so prescribed. (b) Any carrier, any officer, representative, or agent of a carrier, or any receiver, trustee, lessee, or agent of either of them, who knowingly fails or neglects to obey any order made under the pro 49 In addition to the changes in Subsection 203(b), Public Law 94-376, approved August 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1080, makes slight changes in language, and changed the suspension period of Section 204 from three months to five months and added Subsection 204(b). Section 204(a) was amended by Public Law 100-594, 102 Stat. 3021, Nov. 3, 1988. |