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Certification becomes effective unless the Commission determines that: (1) the franchising authority will not adopt and administer rate regulations that are consistent with the Commission's regulations; (2) the franchising authority lacks the legal authority to adopt, and the personnel to administer, rate regulation; (3) procedural laws and regulations, applicable to rate regulation proceedings by the franchising authority do not provide a reasonable opportunity for the consideration of the views of interested parties; or (4)  {OP-the cable system in question is subject to effective competition. 47 C.F.R.  910(b). See also Communications  yO-Act  623(a)(4), 47 C.F.R.  543(a)(4).> A cable operator may file a petition for reconsideration of the franchising authority's certification within 30 days from the date such  S- xLcertification becomes effective.O^  {OZ -ԍ47 C.F.R.  1.106, 76.911; Implementation of Sections of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and  {O$ -Competition Act of 1992, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 8 FCC Rcd 5631, 5693  {O -(1993) ("Rate Order").O Rate regulation is automatically stayed pending review of a timelyfiled  S-petition for reconsideration alleging effective competition.J0  yOX-ԍ47 C.F.R.  76.911(c)(1).J  S8- ` x3.` ` Section 623(l)(1) of the Communications Act provides that a cable operator is subject to effective competition if any one of the following tests is met:  ` pXxX` ` (A) fewer than 30 percent of the households in the franchise area subscribe to the cable service of a cable system; ` XxX` ` (B) the franchise area is `  x` ` X (i) served by at least two unaffiliated multichannel video programming  distributors each of which offers comparable video programming to at least 50 percent of the households in the franchise area; and   x` ` X (ii) the number of households subscribing to programming services   offered by multichannel video programming distributors other than the   largest multichannel video programming distributor exceeds 15 percent of the households in the franchise area; or x  ` pXxX` ` (C) a multichannel video programming distributor operated by the franchising  ` pbauthority for that franchise area offers video programming to at least 50 percent of the households in that franchise area; or `  ` pXxX` ` (D) a local exchange carrier or its affiliate (or any multichannel video  ` p5programming distributor using the facilities of such carrier or its affiliate) offers  ` pvideo programming services directly to subscribers by any means (other than  ` pcdirecttohome satellite services) in the franchise area of an unaffiliated cable  ` poperator which is providing cable service in that franchise area, but only if the  ` pvideo programming services so offered in that area are comparable to the video"x ,`(`(88"  S-programming services provided by the unaffiliated cable operator in that area.vZ yOh-ԍCommunications Act of 1934, as amended, 623(l)(1)(A), (B), (C), (D), 47 U.S.C. 543(l)(A), (B), (C), (D); Section (D) was added by Section 301(b)(2) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104104,  {O-110 Stat. 56 (1996) (the "1996 Act"); see also, 47 C.F.R. 76.905(b)(1), (2), (3), (4). v `  S- III.xSUMMARY OF PLEADINGS  S`- ` x4.` ` Pegasus states that on June 12, 1997, the Board filed with the Commission its  x"Certification of Franchising Authority to Regulate Basic Cable Service Rates and Initial Finding of  xEffective Competition" on FCC Form 328 to become certified to regulate the cable rates in the  S- xCommunities which are located in the same franchise area.6 yOr -ԍPetition at 3.6 Pursuant to Section 76.910(e) of the  S- xlCommission's rules, certification became effective on July 12, 1997. z yO -ԍ47 C.F.R.  76.910(e) (certification becomes effective 30 days after the date of filing). Pegasus filed its petition on  S- xkAugust11, 1997, thus pursuant to Section 76.911(a)(1) of the Commission's rules,d   {OB-ԍ47 C.F.R. 76.911(a)(1) and see  2 supra.d the petition was  xtimely filed. Pegasus maintains that it meets the requirements of the low penetration effective competition test because fewer than 30 percent of the households in the franchise area subscribe to its cable system.  S - ` ox5.` ` In its petition, Pegasus relied upon Census data to show that in 1990 there were a total  S - xyof 96,478 households in the Communities.   {O -ԍSee Petition at Exhibit C, U.S. Census for Puerto Rico, Table 6, "Household, Family, and Group Quarters Characteristics: 1990." Pegasus, in order to arrive at an estimate of the total number  xof current households in the cable communities at issue, calculated household growth using Census data  S - xMfrom the period 1980 to 1990 and Census estimates for 1996.>  yO-ԍPetition at Exhibit D.> Pegasus compared the Communities'  xjpopulation growth from 1980 to 1990 (6.99 percent) to household growth during the same period (13.57  xpercent). Pegasus divided the household growth rate (13.57 percent) by the population growth rate (6.99  xpercent) to conclude that the householdtopopulation growth ratio for the period 1980 to 1990 in the  xCommunities was 1.94. Pegasus then used 1996 Census population estimates to determine the growth in  S- xthe number of households #&a\  P6G;&P#in the Communities between 1990 and 1996 (6.90 percent). Pegasus multiplied  xthe 19801990 householdtopopulation growth ratio (1.94) by the 1996 population growth estimate (6.90  xjpercent) to arrive at a household growth rate for the period 1990 to 1996 of 13.39 percent. Pegasus then  xmultiplied the 1996 household growth rate (13.39 percent) by the number of 1990 households (96,478) and added that sum to the number of 1990 households for an estimated current household total of 109,396.  S- ` x6.` ` Pegasus states that it currently provides service to 26,256 subscribers in the cable  S- xcommunities at issueZ   {O%-ԍId. at Exhibit G, Management Summary Report.Z which results in a penetration rate of 24 percent of the estimated 109,396  xLhouseholds. Pegasus thus maintains that it meets the low penetration test because its penetration rate is less than 30 percent in the cable communities served by its cable system."P ,`(`(88"Ԍ S-ԙ IV.xDISCUSSION  S- ` x 7.` ` We grant Pegasus's petition. Cable operators bear the burden of proving the existence  x.of effective competition and such demonstrations must be made using household and subscriber data for  S`- xthe authorized area in the franchise.D\` {O-ԍSee Implementation of Sections of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992,  {O-First Report on reconsideration, Second Report and Order, and Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 9 FCC Rcd 1164, 1180 (1993) and 47 C.F.R 76.915(a).D Pegasus submitted evidence regarding current household and  xsubscriber data that show that it serves 24 percent of households in the cable communities at issue. While  xwe have said that calculation of a cable operator's penetration rate using 1990 Census data is an acceptable  xmethod of determining its current penetration rate, updated household data can more closely determine  S- x=actual penetration rates.$ {OL -ԍUpper Peninsula Communications, Inc., 11 FCC Rcd 2970 (1996), see also Implementation of Sections of  {O -the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, Third Order on Reconsideration, 9 FCC Rcd 4316, 4324 (we presume that Congress did not intend "households" to have a different meaning than in the 1990 Census). In this case, Pegasus provided updated household data based on 1990 Census  x=data from each community in the franchise area which it then used to calculate a household growth ratio.  xPegasus arrived at an estimate of current households by applying the household growth ratio to Census  xestimates for the period 1990 to 1996. We find that the methodology employed by Pegasus to update the  xCommunities' household data is reasonable in determining current household data. Thus we conclude that  xPegasus has demonstrated that its cable system meets the requirements of low penetration effective competition under our rules and we grant its petition.  S - V.xORDERING CLAUSES  S0- ` x 8.` ` Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the petition for reconsideration filed by Pegasus  xCable Television challenging the certification of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Board to regulate  S- x\basic cable rates IS GRANTED with respect to Pegasus's cable system serving the communities of  xA9asco, Cabo Rojo, Guanica, Hormigueros, Lajas, Las Marias, Maricao, Mayaguez, Rincon, Sabana Grande, and San German, Puerto Rico.  S@- ` 4x9.` ` IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the certification granted to the Puerto Rico  xTelecommunications Regulatory Board to regulate Pegasus's basic cable rates in the franchise area of the  S-abovenamed communities IS REVOKED .  S- ` x10.` ` This action is taken pursuant to delegated authority under Section 0.321, 47 C.F.R. 0.321,  Sx-of the Commission's rules as amended. @ x` `  hhFEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION x` `  hhMeredith J. Jones x` `  hhChief, Cable Services Bureau