The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Radio spectrum fees are generating almost $500,000 less than they should be, due to the existence of “legacy arrangements” with certain operators.

The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA), in its consultation document on the revised radio spectrum pricing, said it had collected $1.1 million in fees for 2013 as opposed to the $1.56 million that should have been received had the existing structure been applied to all licensees.

“URCA notes that there are a small number of cases in which legacy fee arrangements remain in place, which reduce the amount of spectrum fees paid by certain licensees,” the regulator said in its consultation document.

“The result of these arrangements is that the actual amount collected by URCA for 2013 is approximately $1.1 million, rather than the $1.56 million reported above. URCA has given notice to the relevant licensees that these arrangements have lapsed in accordance with the Communications Act, and that the full licence fees as set out in URCA’s Fee Schedule will be payable from 2014.”

URCA said the proposed new fee schedule, as set out in the consultation document, would generate a projected $1.55 million in revenues - almost the same amount as under the existing fee structure.

URCA added that spectrum fees for studio-to-transmitter links (STLs) were higher than the corresponding broadcast radio fees, suggesting “that the STL and broadcast radio fees are not set at the right levels in the current fee schedule”.

URCA currently sends the spectrum fees collected to the Government, after deducting $325,000 for its management costs.