FOR RECORD ONLY 
$//Georgia Cable Partners, MO&O, DA 95-355//$
$/Part 76 Subpart N Cable Rate Regulation/$
$/Withdrawal of Cable Rate Complaint/$

                                Before the
                     FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                          Washington, D.C. 20554
                     DA 95-355
In the matter of  )     
 )
Georgia Cable Partners  )     GA0078  DeKalb County
 )     
Withdrawal of FCC Form 329    )    
Rate Complaint    )

                       MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

 Adopted:  February 24, 1995        Released:  February 24, 1995

By the Chief, Cable Services Bureau:

 1.  On October 17, 1993, a single rate complaint was filed alleging that the prices
charged by George Cable Partners (GCP) in DeKalb County, Georgia for cable programming
service tier (CPS) services were unreasonably high.  On July 5, 1994, the complainant
withdrew this complaint, stating that he had moved out of the area and had no interest in
prosecuting the complaint.  This complainant was the only complainant who filed with this
Commission in this community.  Our jurisdiction to regulate CPS rates arises with the filing
of a valid complaint against those rates.  We will allow the withdrawal of this complaint, and
our review of these filings will therefore be terminated. 

 2.  Under the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992,
and our rules implementing it, 47 C.F.R. Part 76, Subpart N, the Commission must review
CPS prices upon the filing of a valid complaint.  The filing of a valid complaint triggers an
obligation on behalf of the cable operator to file a justification of its CPS prices.  Under our
rules, an operator may attempt to justify its prices through either a benchmark showing or a
cost-of-service showing.  In either case, the operator has the burden of demonstrating that its
CPS prices are not unreasonable.
 
 3.  The Commission's original rate regulations took effect on September 1, 1993. 
The Commission subsequently revised its rate regulations effective May 15, 1994.  Operators
with valid CPS complaints filed against them prior to May 15, 1994 must demonstrate that
their CPS prices were in compliance with the Commission's initial rules from the time the
complaint was filed through May 14, 1994, and that their prices were in compliance with the
revised rules from May 15, 1994 forward.  Operators attempting to justify their prices for the
period prior to May 15, 1994 through a benchmark showing must complete and file FCC
Form 393, as GCP did here.
 
 4.  Under our rules, this Commission's authority to regulate CPS cable rates arises
when a valid complaint against those rates is filed.  The sole complaint against this GCP in
this community has been withdrawn.  Our mandate is to "protect subscribers of any cable
system that is not subject to effective competition from rates that exceed the rates that would
be charged if such a system were subject to effective competition."   Because our review of
the rate justification showing is predicated on the existence of a rate complaint, and because
GCP no longer faces a rate complaint, we are terminating our review of GCP's filing for this
community. 
 
 5.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that permission to withdraw the FCC Form 329
rate complaint against the cable programming service rates of Georgia Cable Partners in
DeKalb County, Georgia, GA0078, IS GRANTED, and the review of the resulting rate
justification filings IS TERMINATED.

 
 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




 Meredith J. Jones
 Chief, Cable Services Bureau