NOTICE ********************************************************* NOTICE ********************************************************* This document was originally prepared in Word Perfect. If the original document contained-- * Footnotes * Boldface & Italics --this information is missing in this version The document format (spacing, margins, tabs, etc.) is changed too. If you need the complete document, download the Word Perfect version. For information about downloading documents (FTP) see file how2ftp. File how2ftp (.txt & .wp) is in directory \pub\Public_Notices\Miscellaneous. ***************************************************************** ******** July 24, 1995 DA 95-1640 Released: July 25, 1995 Eric E. Breisach, Esq. Howard & Howard 107 West Michigan Ave. Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007 Dear Mr. Breisach: This is in response to your July 5, 1995 letter, requesting waiver of Section 76.922(d)(2) of the Commission's rules. In the letter, you asked the Commission to extend the deadline for claiming rate adjustments resulting from inflation to March 31, 1996 for the September 30, 1993 through June 30, 1994 inflation period. Section 76.922(d)(2) of the Commission's rules permits a non-transition relief system operator to adjust rates annually for inflation. The first annual inflation adjustment is based on inflation occurring from September 30, 1993 until June 30 of the year in which the inflation adjustment is made. All further adjustments are based on inflation occurring from June 30 of the year the inflation adjustment is made, back in time to June 30 of the previous year. According to the rule, an adjustment may be made after September 30, but no later than August 31 of the next calendar year. Accordingly, non-transition relief system operators wishing to claim the inflation adjustment for the September 30, 1993 through June 30, 1994 inflation period must do so by an August 31, 1995 deadline. You indicate that many of your clients would like to delay implementation of their initial inflation adjustment, but would lose their ability to claim the adjustment in the future if they failed to make the adjustment by the August 31, 1995 deadline. You state that some clients wish to delay the deadline in order to coordinate their initial inflation adjustment with their year-end adjustments to external costs, while other clients want to be able to keep rates as low as possible for as long as possible without losing their ability to claim the adjustment at a later date. You further indicate that a waiver of our rule would spare consumers from immediate rate increases by operators that could then delay implementation of the initial inflation adjustment. In addition, you state that since our rule regarding the "use or lose" portion of our annual rate adjustment methodology is currently under reconsideration, the waiver would serve to eliminate uncertainty during this period of reconsideration. We believe that a waiver of the August 31, 1995 deadline by which non-transition relief system operators must claim initial inflation adjustments, or lose the ability to claim these adjustments at a later date, is in the best interests of both consumers and cable operators. Accordingly, we extend to December 31, 1995, the deadline to claim inflation adjustments for the September 30, 1993 through June 30, 1994 inflation period. Extending the August 31, 1995 deadline until December 31, 1995 is in the best interest of consumers because it could limit the number of rate increases during this period of initial inflation adjustments and could delay the imposition of rate adjustments stemming from the initial inflation period. In addition, the waiver reduces administrative burdens on operators as it could be used to limit the number of FCC Form 1210 filings and the associated subscriber notifications. Finally, the extension of our deadline will create greater certainty during this period of reconsideration of our rules in this area. We note, however, that this waiver applies only to the September 30, 1993 through June 30, 1994 inflation period, and should not be read to extend the deadline for subsequent inflation adjustment periods. Our current reconsideration of the rules is the appropriate forum to discuss any further changes to our "use or lose" provisions. However, since the August 31, 1995 deadline by which to claim adjustments for the September 30, 1993 through June 30, 1994 inflation period is imminent, we have chosen to extend this deadline by waiver. This is a blanket waiver which is available to all non-transition relief system operators. Hence, all non-transition relief operators that will be taking an inflation adjustment for the September 30, 1993 through June 30, 1994 inflation period will have until December 31, 1995 to claim this inflation adjustment. Sincerely, Meredith J. Jones Chief, Cable Services Bureau