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

In the Matter of                )
                                )
Cable & Communications Corporation d/b/a     )    File No. EB-02-
TS-049
Mid-Rivers Cable Television     )
                                )
Operator of Cable Systems in:   )
                                )    
Glendive, Montana               )
Sidney, Montana                 )
Roundup, Montana                )
Wibaux, Montana                 )
Circle, Montana                 )
Jordan, Montana                 )
Ekalaka, Montana                )
Richey, Montana                 )
                                )
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the     )    
Commission's Rules              )    
                                        
                              ORDER 

Adopted:  July 25, 2002                 Released:  July 30, 2002

By the Chief, Technical  and Public Safety Division,  Enforcement 
Bureau:

1.        In  this  Order,  we   grant  Cable  &   Communications 
  Corporation   d.b.a.  Mid-Rivers   Cable   Television   (``Mid-
  Rivers'')  temporary  waivers   of  Section  11.11(a)  of   the 
  Commission's  Rules  (``Rules'') for  the  each  of  the  eight 
  above-captioned  cable television  systems.   Specifically,  we 
  grant a temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for  the 
  Glendive,  Montana  system, a  temporary,  24-month  waiver  of 
  Section  11.11(a)  for   the  Sidney,  Montana  system  and   a 
  temporary,  36-month  waiver   of  Section  11.11(a)  for   the 
  Roundup,  Montana; Wibaux,  Montana; Circle,  Montana;  Jordan, 
  Montana;  Ekalaka,   Montana;  and  Richey,  Montana   systems. 
  Section  11.11(a) requires  cable  systems serving  fewer  than 
  5,000 subscribers  from a  headend to  either provide  national 
  level  EAS  messages on  all  programmed  channels  or  install 
  Emergency Alert System (``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.        Mid-Rivers filed  a  request for  temporary  waiver  of 
  Section 11.11(a) for each of the eight captioned cable  systems 
  on January  30, 2001.  Mid-Rivers seeks a  12-month waiver  for 
  the  Glendive,  Montana  system,  a  24-month  waiver  for  the 
  Sidney, Montana system  and a 36-month waiver for the  Roundup, 
  Montana;  Wibaux, Montana;  Circle, Montana;  Jordan,  Montana; 
  Ekalaka, Montana;  and Richey, Montana  systems. In support  of 
  its waiver  request, Mid-Rivers states that  each of the  eight 
  systems serves small, rural communities and each system  serves 
  between  68  and 1,445  subscribers.   Based  on  price  quotes 
  provided by  EAS equipment manufacturers, Mid-Rivers  estimates 
  that  it  would  cost  approximately  $9,000  to  install   EAS 
  equipment  at  each  of these  systems  for  a  total  cost  of 
  $72,000. Mid-Rivers  asserts that  the cost  of installing  EAS 
  equipment  at  the eight  systems  will  impose  a  substantial 
  financial hardship on it and provides financial statements  for 
  2000 and 2001 in support of this assertion.  In addition,  Mid-
  Rivers  submits that  its  subscribers will  continue  to  have 
  ready access to national EAS information on at least  one-third 
  of all programmed  channels carried on its systems.  Mid-Rivers 
  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, 
  Mid-Rivers  believes that  it can  fund EAS  equipment for  the 
  eight systems  by phasing  them into compliance  over the  next 
  three years.

4.        Based upon our review of  the financial data and  other 
  information submitted  by Mid-Rivers,  we conclude  that a  12-
  month  waiver of  Section 11.11(a)  for the  Glendive,  Montana 
  system, a 24-month  waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the  Sidney, 
  Montana system  and a 36-month waiver  of Section 11.11(a)  for 
  Roundup,  Montana; Wibaux,  Montana; Circle,  Montana;  Jordan, 
  Montana;  Ekalaka, Montana;  and  Richey, Montana  systems  are 
  warranted.9  In particular, we find that the estimated  $72,000 
  cost of EAS equipment for these small cable systems, which  are 
  slated for  elimination, could impose  a financial hardship  on 
  Mid-Rivers.  

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   Cable   & 
  Communications Corporation  d.b.a. Mid-Rivers Cable  Television 
  IS GRANTED  a waiver  of Section  11.11(a) of  the Rules  until 
  October  1, 2003  for its  Glendive, Montana  cable system,  IS 
  GRANTED  a  waiver  of Section  11.11(a)  of  the  Rules  until 
  October 1,  2004 for its  Sidney, Montana cable  system and  IS 
  GRANTED  a  waiver  of Section  11.11(a)  of  the  Rules  until 
  October  1, 2005  for its  Roundup, Montana;  Wibaux,  Montana; 
  Circle,  Montana;   Jordan,  Montana;  Ekalaka,  Montana;   and 
  Richey, Montana cable systems.

7.        IT IS  FURTHER  ORDERED  that  Cable  &  Communications 
  Corporation d.b.a. Mid-Rivers Cable Television 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 Cable & Communications Corporation d.b.a. Mid-Rivers  Cable 
  Television, 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 Glendive,  Montana system will extend  12 
months from October 1,  2002, until October  1, 2003, the  waiver 
for the Sidney, Montana system will extend 24 months from October 
1, 2002, until October  1, 2004 and the  waiver for the  Roundup, 
Montana;  Wibaux,  Montana;  Circle,  Montana;  Jordan,  Montana; 
Ekalaka, Montana; and Richey, Montana  systems will be extend  36 
months from October 1, 2002,  until October 1, 2005.   Mid-Rivers 
also specifically requested waiver of the testing and  monitoring 
requirements of  the  EAS  rules for  these  eight  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.