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FOR FCC RECORD ONLY
$//Adelphia Cable Communications, State of New Jersey, MO&O, DA 95-759//$
$/76.922 Rates for Cable Programming Service tiers/$
$/benchmark cable rates/$

                                Before the
                     FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                          Washington, D.C. 20554

                     DA 95-759

In the Matter of)    CUID Nos.
 )    NJ0008  Stafford Township
Withdrawal of FCC Form 329)     NJ0085  Beachwood Borough
Rate Complaint Against Adelphia      )    NJ0090  Barnegat Township
Cable Communications )    NJ0140  Pine Beach Borough
 )    NJ0141  Ocean Gate Borough
 )    NJ0143  S. Tom's River Borough
 )    NJ0160  Dover Township
 )    NJ0177  Eagleswood Township
 )    NJ0178  Tuckerton Borough
 )    NJ0179  Little Egg Harbor Township
 )    NJ0499  Crestwood Village
 )    NJ0500  Lakehurst Borough
 )    NJ0570  Manahawkin
 


                       MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

 Adopted:  April 11, 1995            Released:  April 13, 1995  

By the Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau:

 1.  The New Jersey Board of Regulatory Commissioners/Office of Cable Television
("Board") filed a single complaint on February 28, 1994 with this Commission alleging that
the prices charged by Adelphia Cable Communications d/b/a Clear Cablevision, Inc.
("Adelphia") for cable programming service tier (CPS) services in the communities
referenced above were unreasonably high.  On February 17, 1995, the Board wrote to
Adelphia stating that it wished to withdraw its complaint in all of the communities, and gave
Adelphia permission to file its withdrawal letter with the Commission.  The Board was the
only complainant that filed a valid complaint with this Commission in each of the above-
referenced communities.  Our jurisdiction to regulate CPS rates arises with the filing of a
valid complaint against those rates.  The withdrawal of the only complaint against an
operator's CPS rates in a community constitutes the termination of our jurisdiction to
regulate 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.  

 4.  This Commission has now received from the Board a letter stating that it wishes
to withdraw its CPS rate complaint against Adelphia.  Under our rules, this Commission's
authority to regulate CPS rates arises when a valid complaint against those rates is filed.  In
every community referenced above, the Board is the only complainant.  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."  While our rules forbid collusive agreements between operators and local
franchising authorities regarding forebearance from rate regulation, there is no evidence of
such an agreement here.  In its letter, in fact, the Board states that it has completed a rate
review of the benchmark rates, and has found them consistent with the FCC's rules.  It is on
the basis of this finding, rather than on the basis of an underlying agreement to forebear, that
the Board is seeking to withdraw its CPS rate complaint.  We will accordingly allow the
Board to withdraw its complaint.  Because our review of the rate justification showings is
predicated on the existence of a rate complaint, we are terminating our review of Adelphia's
filings in the above-referenced communities. 

 5.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that permission to withdraw the FCC Form 329
rate complaint against cable programming service rates in the above-noted communities IS
GRANTED, and the review of the resulting rate justification filings IS TERMINATED to the
extent discussed herein.


 
 FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




 Gregory J. Vogt
 Deputy Chief, Cable Services Bureau