license fee

UPDATE March 23, 2022: The FCC license fees will take effect on April 19, 2022. Read more.

UPDATE: The original article posted a specific date for activation, which turned out to be in error. We have since updated the article to correct the error and clarify the implementation process. We apologize for the error.

Last year the FCC announced new license application fees for various radio services, including the Amateur Radio Service and the GMRS. While the announcement received mixed response from the users of these services, it also created some confusion as to exactly when these new fees would begin to be enforced.

On December 29, 2020 the FCC issued a FCC Report and Order announcing the new fees. According to the document, the fee for an amateur radio technician, general or extra license, which previously was without charge, will now cost $35. The fee will apply to vanity call signs as well. The cost of a GMRS license will decrease from $70 to only $35. The licenses for both services are valid for 10 years.

When we first reported the FCC approval of the new ham and GMRS license fees back in December, there was no official date set for their implementation. This Report and Order would become effective after it was to be published in the Federal Register. However, some parts of it, including the applications fees, would not become effective until it is approved by Congress.

The Schedule of Application Fees of the Commission's Rules was published in the Federal Register March 19, 2021. According to the notice, the fees officially take effect once it is sent to Congress and the FCC's systems have been updated. The FCC will then publish a notice of the actual effective date. Update: Amateur and GMRS license fees change to $35 on April 19, 2022. Read for details.

If you are planning to obtain a ham radio license or vanity call sign, you still have time to do so without incurring the new $35 fee. If you want to buy a GMRS license and pay the lower fee, you may want to wait little awhile longer. Either way, we'll be here at Buy Two Way Radios to help you save on your ham, GMRS, and any other business or personal radios and radio accessories you may need.

UPDATE March 19, 2020 - When will the new FCC license fees take effect? Read here for details.

The FCC has just approved new license fees for Amateur Radio and the GMRS. These fees are actually lower than the original fees proposed in August, which were highly contested by hams, but welcomed by GMRS licensees. While the new FCC license fees may alleviate some of the sticker shock from the original fees proposed by the Commission, it is welcome news for fans of the GMRS.

According to the FCC Report and Order released December 29, 2020, Amateur Radio license fees will now cost $35. This same fee will apply to new licenses, renewal licenses, and vanity call signs. Previously, no fees were collected for ham licenses or vanity call signs issued to amateur radio operators, so technically it is a significant change. However, it is considerably less than the $50 fees originally proposed by the Commission, so it should be of some comfort to hams.

On the brighter side, a GMRS license will now cost significantly less than before. Up to now the application fee for a GMRS license was $70. With this Report and Order, the new GMRS license fee will be only $35, which is $15 less than the proposed fee and half the cost of the fees previously charged by the FCC. The license is still valid for 10 years and covers an entire family.

The amendment to the proposed fees was largely due to the comments and feedback the Commission received in response to the proposal in August. While the FCC disagreed with many of the assertions from hams and the ARRL why the original proposed $50 fees should not be charged at all, it did acknowledge on important point brought up by many that the fees did not fairly represent the amount of effort required to process the license applications, ,which is largely automated.

As the FCC put it, "We agree that the applications for amateur licenses, and other personal licenses, are largely automated, and for that reason the cost-based fee we adopt is only $35. With respect to the amateur licenses, while review is highly automated, staff must maintain the processing system to ensure applicants are qualified, vanity call sign procedures are followed, and off-lined applications are individually reviewed. Therefore, we cannot conclude that there are no costs involved in processing the applications and we do not have the discretion to exempt this service from application fees."

Since the same is true with the processing of GMRS licenses, the Commission amended the proposed $50 fee for that as well, bringing the cost of a GMRS license down to $35.

The new fees will take affect after the Report and Order is published in the Federal Register and is sent to Congress.

If you are interested in obtaining a General Mobile Service or GMRS radio license, but have put it off because of the gradually rising fees, good news may be on the horizon. The FCC recently proposed to amend the schedule of application fees on many of the radio services. While this could mean huge hikes in fees for amateur radio license, it may also bring about a considerable reduction in license fees for the GMRS!

In this short excerpt from Episode 151 of The Two Way Radio Show Podcast, Danny, Anthony and Rick discuss the proposal to lower the GMRS license fee and why this could be great for the GMRS in the future.

For details on the proposal, read the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MD Docket No. 20-270.

We have a wide selection of FCC approved GMRS Two Way Radios available at Buy Two Way Radios.