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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
KRM Cablevision, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-143
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Augusta, Wisconsin )
Butternut, Wisconsin )
Fall Creek, Wisconsin )
Fifield, Wisconsin )
Glidden, Wisconsin )
Greenwood, Wisconsin )
Hawkins, Wisconsin )
Mellen, Wisconsin )
Prentice, Wisconsin )
Stetsonville, Wisconsin )
)
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 KRM Cablevision, Inc. (``KRM'')
temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's
Rules (``Rules'') for the each of the ten above-captioned
cable television systems. Specifically, we grant a temporary,
12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Augusta, Fall
Creek, Glidden, Greenwood and Mellen, Wisconsin systems and a
temporary, 24-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
Butternut, Fifield, Hawkins, Prentice and Stetsonville,
Wisconsin 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. KRM filed a request for temporary waiver of Section
11.11(a) for the ten captioned cable systems on April 12,
2002. KRM seeks a 12-month waiver for the Augusta, Fall
Creek, Glidden, Greenwood and Mellen, Wisconsin systems and a
temporary, 24-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
Butternut, Fifield, Hawkins, Prentice and Stetsonville,
Wisconsin systems. In support of its waiver request, KRM
states that each of the 10 systems serves small, rural
communities, and each system serves between 62 and 307
subscribers. Based on price quotes provided by EAS equipment
manufacturers, KRM estimates that it would cost approximately
$8,790 to install EAS equipment at each of these systems for a
total cost of $87,900. KRM asserts that the cost of
installing EAS equipment at the ten systems will impose a
substantial financial hardship on it and provides financial
statements for 2000 and 2001 in support of this assertion. In
addition, KRM submits that its subscribers will continue to
have ready access to national EAS information from other
sources, including its cable systems. In this regard, KRM
notes that its subscribers currently have access to national
EAS messages on at least 40 percent of all programmed
channels. KRM also asserts that its subscribers will have
access to EAS information through over-the-air reception of
broadcast television and radio stations and other sources.
Finally, KRM believes that it can fund EAS equipment for the 5
larger systems within the next year and the 5 smaller systems
within the next two years.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by KRM, we conclude that a temporary,
12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Augusta, Fall
Creek, Glidden, Greenwood and Mellen, Wisconsin systems and a
temporary, 24-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
Butternut, Fifield, Hawkins, Prentice and Stetsonville,
Wisconsin systems are warranted.9 In particular, we find that
the estimated $87,900 cost of EAS equipment for these small
cable systems, which are slated for elimination, could impose
a financial hardship on KRM.
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 KRM Cablevision,
Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules
until October 1, 2003 for its Augusta, Falls Creek, Glidden,
Greenwood and Mellen, Wisconsin cable systems and IS GRANTED a
waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2004
for its Butternut, Fifield, Hawkins, Prentice and
Stetsonville, Wisconsin cable systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that KRM Cablevision, 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 KRM Cablevision, Inc., Christopher C. Cinnamon, Esq.,
Cinnamon Mueller, 307 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020,
Chicago, Illinois 60601.
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 waiver for the Augusta, Fall Creek, Glidden, Greenwood
and Mellen systems will extend 12 months from October 1, 2002,
until October 1, 2003 and the waiver for the Butternut, Fifield,
Hawkins, Prentice and Stetsonville systems will extend 24 months
from October 1, 2002, until October 1, 2004. KRM also
specifically requested waiver of the testing and monitoring
requirements of the EAS rules for these ten systems. 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.