The Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) has today published its fee schedule for fees relating to the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016 (ECS 02/2016), revising the previous schedule which was published on January 29, 2015.
The new schedule introduces the changes to Standard Spectrum Fees established in URCA’s Final Decision and Statement of Results in its “Review of Radio Frequency Spectrum Pricing” document (ECS 01/2016), which was published on January 28, 2016. It should be noted that the changes to Premium Spectrum Fees proposed pursuant to URCA’s Spectrum Pricing Review, have not been made, as they are subject to decision by the Minister with responsibility for the Electronic Communications Sector, currently the Prime Minister.
URCA has made the appropriate recommendations and will implement any changes once the Minister has made a decision. Also, URCA has delayed the implementation of the Spectrum Management Fee also proposed in ECS 01/2016, to allow the industry a further period to acclimate to the current spectrum fee changes. URCA will revisit this at the end of 2016 for possible implementation in 2017.
In addition, the Schedule revises the annual URCA fee for large operating license holders (greater than or equal to $0.5m annual relevant turnover), including individual and class operating licensees requiring registration, to 1.367% of annual relevant turnover in 2016 based on URCA’s draft Budget and Annual Plan 2016. This represents a modest increase over the URCA fee of 1.331% for 2015.
A copy of the new schedule may be obtained via: https://urcabahamas.bs/download/072578400.pdf