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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Branch Cable, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-069
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Ackerman, Mississippi )
Bude, Mississippi )
Crosby, Mississippi )
Isola, Mississippi )
Louise, Mississippi )
New Augusta, Mississippi )
New Hebron, Mississippi )
Roxie, Mississippi )
Warren County, Mississippi )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: June 19, 2002 Released: June 24, 2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Branch Cable, Inc.,
(``Branch'') temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the nine above-captioned
cable television systems. Specifically, we grant a temporary,
12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Ackerman,
Mississippi, and Bude, Mississippi systems and temporary, 36-
month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the Crosby, Mississippi;
Isola Mississippi; Louise, Mississippi; New Augusta,
Mississippi; New Hebron, Mississippi; Roxie, Mississippi, and
Warren County, Mississippi systems. Section 11.11(a) requires
cable systems serving fewer than 5,000 subscribers from a
headend to either provide national level Emergency Alert
System (``EAS'') messages on all programmed channels or
install EAS equipment and provide a video interrupt and audio
alert on all programmed channels and EAS audio and video
messages on at least one programmed channel by October 1,
2002.1
2. The Cable Act of 1992 added new Section 624(g) to the
Communications Act of 1934 (``Act''), which requires that
cable systems be capable of providing EAS alerts to their
subscribers.2 In 1994, the Commission adopted rules requiring
cable systems to participate in EAS.3 In 1997, the Commission
amended the EAS rules to provide financial relief for small
cable systems.4 The Commission declined to exempt small cable
systems from the EAS requirements, concluding that such an
exemption would be inconsistent with the statutory mandate of
Section 624(g).5 However, the Commission extended the
deadline for cable systems serving fewer than 10,000
subscribers to begin complying with the EAS rules to October
1, 2002, and provided cable systems serving fewer than 5,000
subscribers the option of either providing national level EAS
messages on all programmed channels or installing EAS
equipment and providing a video interrupt and audio alert on
all programmed channels and EAS audio and video messages on at
least one programmed channel.6 In addition, the Commission
stated that it would grant waivers of the EAS rules to small
cable systems on a case-by-case basis upon a showing of
financial hardship.7 The Commission indicated that waiver
requests must contain at least the following information: (1)
justification for the waiver, with reference to the particular
rule sections for which a waiver is sought; (2) information
about the financial status of the requesting entity, such as a
balance sheet and income statement for the two previous years
(audited, if possible); (3) the number of other entities that
serve the requesting entity's coverage area and that have or
are expected to install EAS equipment; and (4) the likelihood
(such as proximity or frequency) of hazardous risks to the
requesting entity's audience.8
3. On February 12, 2002, Branch filed a request for a
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for each of the nine captioned
cable systems. In support of its waiver request, Branch
states that each of the nine systems serves small, rural
communities and has a total of 3,030 subscribers.
Specifically, Branch indicates that the nine systems each
serve between 98 and 869 subscribers, with five of the systems
serving fewer than 200 subscribers. Based on price quotes
between $6,995 and $9,310 provided by EAS equipment
manufacturers, Branch estimates that it would cost a total of
approximately $100,000 to install EAS equipment at these cable
systems. Branch asserts that this cost will impose a
substantial financial hardship on it and provides its
financial statements for 2000 and 2001 in support of this
assertion. In addition, Branch submits that its subscribers
will continue to have ready access to national EAS information
from other sources, including its cable systems. In this
regard, Branch notes that its subscribers will have national
EAS messages from at least two 24-hour programmed channels.
Branch also asserts that its subscribers will have access to
EAS information through over-the-air reception of broadcast
television and radio stations. Finally, Branch states that
local and county civil defense alert systems cover many of the
communities served by these cable systems.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by Branch we conclude that a temporary,
12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Ackerman, and
Bude, Mississippi systems is warranted. In addition, a
temporary 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Crosby,
Isola, Louise, New Augusta, New Hebron, Roxie, and Warren
County, Mississippi systems is warranted.9 In particular, we
find that the estimated $100,000 cost of EAS equipment for
these cable systems could impose a financial hardship on
Branch.
5. We note that the Commission recently amended the EAS
rules to permit cable systems serving fewer than 5,000
subscribers to install FCC-certified decoder-only units,
rather than both encoders and decoders, if such a device
becomes available.10 Based on comments from equipment
manufacturers, we anticipate that such a decoder-only system
could result in significant cost savings to small cable
systems.11
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,12 Branch Cable, Inc.
IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until
October 1, 2003 for its Ackerman, Mississippi, and Bude,
Mississippi cable systems and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section
11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for its Crosby,
Mississippi; Isola, Mississippi; Louise, Mississippi; New
Augusta, Mississippi; New Hebron, Mississippi; Roxie,
Mississippi, and Warren County, Mississippi cable systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Branch Cable, Inc. place a
copy of this waiver in its system files.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for Branch Cable, Inc., Pamela L. Gist, Esq., Lukas, Nace,
Gutierrez & Sachs, Chartered, 1111 19th Street, N.W., Suite
1200, Washington, DC 20036.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division
Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. § 11.11(a).
2 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of
1992, Pub. L. No. 102-385, § 16(b), 106 Stat. 1460, 1490 (1992).
Section 624(g) provides that ``each cable operator shall comply
with such standards as the Commission shall prescribe to ensure
that viewers of video programming on cable systems are afforded
the same emergency information as is afforded by the emergency
broadcasting system pursuant to Commission regulations ....'' 47
U.S.C. § 544(g).
3 Amendment of Part 73, Subpart G, of the Commission's Rules
Regarding the Emergency Broadcast System, Report and Order and
Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making, FO Docket Nos. 91-171/91-
301, 10 FCC Rcd 1786 (1994) (``First Report and Order''),
reconsideration granted in part, denied in part, 10 FCC Rcd 11494
(1995).
4 Amendment of Part 73, Subpart G, of the Commission's Rules
Regarding the Emergency Broadcast System, Second Report and
Order, FO Docket Nos. 91-171/91-301, 12 FCC Rcd 15503 (1997)
(``Second Report and Order'').
5 Id. at 15512-13.
6 Id. at 15516-15518.
7 Id. at 15513.
8 Id. at 15513, n. 59.
9 The waivers for Ackerman and Bude, Mississippi will extend
12 months from October 1, 2002, until October 1, 2003 and the
waivers for Crosby, Isola, Louise, New Augusta, New Hebron,
Roxie, and Warren County Mississippi will extend from October 1,
2002 until October 1, 2005. We clarify that the waivers we are
granting also encompass the EAS testing and monitoring
requirements.
10 Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission's Rules Regarding
the Emergency Alert System, EB Docket 01-66, FCC 02-64 at ¶ 71
(released February 26, 2002).
11 One manufacturer estimated that an EAS decoder-only system
can reduce the cost by 64% over what a cable operator would spend
for an encoder/decoder unit. Id. at ¶ 70.
12 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.