In a decision earlier this year to drop the regulatory fee components for Amateur Radio vanity call signs and General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) applications, the FCC said it was doing so to save money and personnel resources. The Commission asserted that it costs more of both to process the regulatory fees and issue refunds than the amount of the regulatory fee payment.

"Our costs have increased over time, and now that the costs exceed the amount of the regulatory fee, the increased relative administrative cost supports eliminating this regulatory fee category," the FCC said in its Report and Order, which appeared on July 21 in The Federal Register. "Once the fees are eliminated, these licensees will no longer be financially burdened with such payments, and the Commission will no longer incur these administrative costs that exceed the fee payments." The FCC raised the Amateur Service vanity call sign regulatory fee from $16.10 to its current $21.40 for the 10-year license term in 2014. The $5.30 increase was the largest fee increase in several years.

When the FCC first opened the Vanity Call Sign System in 1998, the original fee was set at $50.00 and has been increased and decreased over time. In a typical fiscal year, the FCC has collected on the order of $250,000 in vanity call sign regulatory fees. Congress has mandated that the FCC collect nearly $340 million in regulatory fees from all services in fiscal year 2015.

Obtaining station call signs of your choice is a service of the W5YI Group and we have processed thousands of them for the Amateur community. Amateurs may handle the process themselves through the FCC's website or you can let us handle the application. I takes the FCC 18-10 days to process vanity applications and grant a new vanity call sign.

For more information see our FAQ page or you can call us toll free at: 1-800-669-9594