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                                Before the
                     Federal Communications Commission
                          Washington, D.C. 20554

                                                      )
In the Matter of          )
         )    CUID Nos.:
         )    LA0439  (Avoyelles Parish) 
Scott Cable Communications, Inc.)    NM0060 (Village of Tularosa) 
         )    NM0023 (Village of Alamogordo) 
         )    VA0162  (City of Radford)
Small System Filing to Support           )        
Cable Programming Service Price )
                                     

                      MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

   Adopted:  March 26, 1996                   Released:  April 9, 1996

By the Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division, Cable Services Bureau:

 1. Here we consider complaints about the rate that Scott Cable Communications, Inc.
("Scott Cable") was charging for its cable programming service ("CPS") tier in the franchise areas
listed above.  On October 27, 1995, Scott Cable filed FCC Form 1230 seeking to justify its rate
through the simplified small system cost of service procedures under the Commission's Small
System Order.  In this Order we grant Scott Cable's request for small system relief under the
Small System Order and, based on our review of Scott Cable's Form 1230 filing, deny the
pending CPS rate complaints.
 
  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 a cable
operator's rates for its CPS tier 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
rates.  Under our rules, an operator may attempt to justify its rates through a benchmark
showing, a cost-of-service showing, or a small system cost of service showing.  In any case, the
operator has the burden of demonstrating that its CPS rates 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.  In a further effort
to offer small cable companies administrative relief from rate regulation, the Commission
amended the definition of small cable companies and small systems and introduced a simplified
form of small system rate relief in the Small System Order.  Cable systems serving 15,000 or
fewer subscribers, and owned by a company having 400,000 or fewer subscribers, may elect to
use the new small cable system rate mechanism in lieu of other Commission rate processes,
provided the Commission has not reached a final resolution on the rate complaint[s] filed against
the system.  Operators attempting to justify their rates through small system relief must file FCC
Form 1230.  If the maximum rate established on Form 1230 does not exceed $1.24 per channel,
the rate shall be presumed reasonable.

  4.  We find that Scott Cable is a company with fewer than 400,000 total subscribers and
that the systems in question serves fewer than 15,000 subscribers, making it eligible for small
system relief. Upon review of Scott Cable's Form 1230 filings, we find that Scott Cable has
justified its CPS rate.  Scott Cable's CPS rate is less than $1.24 per channel and, therefore, is
presumed reasonable.  There is nothing in the record that refutes this presumption, therefore, we
find the rate to be not unreasonable.

  5.  Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 0.321 of the Commission's Rules,
47 C.F.R.  0.321, that Scott Cable's request for small system relief is GRANTED.

  6.  IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the CPS rate charged by Scott Cable with respect
to the above-referenced CUID numbers, IS JUSTIFIED.
           
  7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the complaints against the CPS rate charged by  
Scott Cable with respect to the above-referenced CUID numbers, ARE DENIED.

                            FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                            JoAnn Lucanik
                            Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division 
                            Cable Services Bureau