On July 19, the FCC announced via the Federal Register that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will decrease 10 cents, from to $13.40 to $13.30. The new fees take effect 30 days after publication, making August 17, 2010, the first day the new fee is in effect. In FY2010, the FCC expects to grant 14,800 vanity call signs, bringing in $196,840 from the vanity call sign program. Earlier this year, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM), seeking to lower the fee for Amateur Radio vanity call signs.

The notice in the July 19, 2010 edition of the Federal Register -- entitled “Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2010; Final Rule” -- includes all FCC regulatory fees; these fees are expected to recover a total of $336,712,213 during FY2010, encompassing all the Services the FCC regulates.

The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended, to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new 10 year term.