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                                                       DA 97-1074
Mr. Stephen R. Ross, Esq.                            CSB-ILR 97-3
Ross & Hardies                                                   
888 Sixteenth Street, N.W.                Released:  May 22, 1997
Washington, D.C. 20006-4103

Dear Mr. Ross:

     This is in response to your letter dated April 11, 1997, requesting clarification as to
whether, the Commission's leased access rules require a cable operator "to provide broadband
capacity between a leased access programmer's studio and the cable operator's headend in order
to provide live cablecasting capability to the leased access programmer."  

     We are not in a position to provide you with a definitive ruling on any specific
controversy in the absence of a more formal process.  We believe, however, that a review of the
applicable statutory provisions and Commission rules contain sufficient information to permit
the answer to your general question to be readily derived. 

     Section 612 of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C.  532) contains the provisions
applicable to commercial leased access channels.  The Commission initially adopted regulations
to implement the provisions of Section 612 in its proceedings in Implementation of Sections of
the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Rate Regulation,
Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, MM Docket 92-266, FCC 93-
177, 8 FCC Rcd 5631, 5933-5964 (1993).  The regulations were revised in Implementation of
Sections of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992: Leased
Commercial Access, Second Report and Order and Second Order on Reconsideration of the
First Report and Order, CS Docket 96-60, FCC 97-27, 62 Fed. Reg. 11364 (March 12, 1997).See also Implementation of Sections of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and
Competition Act of 1992: Rate Regulation, Leased Commercial Access, Order on
Reconsideration of the First Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,MM Docket 92-266/CS Docket 96-60, FCC 96-122, 61 Fed. Reg. 16396 (April 15, 1996).

     Sections 76.970, 76.971 & 76.975 of the rules (47 C.F.R.  76.970, 76.971 & 76.975)
generally set forth the requirements for leased access use, including the systems to which the
requirements are applicable, the number of channels that must be available for lease, and the
maximum rates that a system operator may charge for leased access time.  Section 76.971(c)
specifically requires that, in addition to channel capacity, cable operators must provide some
level of technical support, in order for the leased access process to function.  It states that
"[c]able operators are required to provide unaffiliated leased access users the minimal level of
technical support necessary for users to present their material on the air, and may not
unreasonably refuse to cooperate with a leased access user in order to prevent that user from
obtaining channel capacity." 

     The general principle embodied in the leased access rules is that cable operators must
make available for lease the same type of access that is made available on their system for the
distribution of non-leased access programming.  System operators generally provide non-leased
access programmers with channel capacity and the minimal level of technical support necessary
to input the programming into the system.  The Commission's rules therefore require that
operators provide a similar level of technical support for unaffiliated leased access users.  See 47
C.F.R.  76.971(c).  System operators also do not generally have any responsibility for assisting
in the delivery of programming from a programmer's studio or production facility to the headend
or input point of the cable system.  Therefore, it follows that cable operators would not generally
be required to provide broadband capacity between a leased access programmer's studio and the
cable operator's headend in order to provide the leased access programmer with live cablecasting
capability.

     
                              Sincerely,



                              Meredith J. Jones   
                              Chief, Cable Services Bureau