Why Is the FCC Asking About Paperwork for Maritime Satellite Billing?

A notice published in the Federal Register on August 14, 2026, invites public comment on an information collection the FCC has used for years. The collection covers the certification and monitoring of U.S. accounting authorities in the maritime mobile and maritime mobile-satellite radio services.

What an accounting authority actually does

Ships at sea make satellite calls and send data through networks that span oceans. Someone has to bill for that traffic. An accounting authority is the entity that collects charges from the ship operator and settles with the satellite provider. The FCC certifies these authorities, tracks their activity, and reports them to the International Telecommunication Union. Without certification, a company cannot legally perform this function for U.S.-flagged vessels.

The forms and the burden

FCC Form 44 is the application for certification. FCC Form 45 is the annual or semi-annual report that certified authorities file to show they remain qualified. The FCC estimates ten respondents file 22 responses per year. Each response takes between one and three hours. That adds up to 24 hours of total annual burden across all filers. The agency puts the total annual cost at $250,000.

The obligation to respond is mandatory. Statutory authority comes from 47 U.S.C. 154(i), 154(j), 161, 201–205, and 303(r). The current OMB control number is 3060-0584. That number must appear on the forms; without it, no penalty applies for non-compliance.

Why the review happens now

The Paperwork Reduction Act requires agencies to re-evaluate every approved collection every three years. The FCC last renewed this collection in 2023. Before that, renewals occurred in 2020, 2018, and 2014. Each cycle asks whether the forms are still necessary, whether the burden estimate is accurate, and whether automation could reduce the load. The notice specifically asks for ideas to ease the burden on small businesses with fewer than 25 employees.

Comments are due by October 13, 2026. They go to Nicole Ongele at the FCC, via PRA@fcc.gov and nicole.ongele@fcc.gov. The docket number is OMB 3060-0584.

What changes for a certified authority

If you already hold certification, nothing changes today. The forms stay valid. The OMB number stays valid. The filing schedule stays the same. The review only decides whether the collection continues for another three years without modification. If commenters convince the FCC that the forms ask for too much or the wrong things, the next version could look different. The notice does not say how many of the ten authorities are small businesses. It does not say whether any have dropped out since the last cycle.