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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Neu Ventures, Inc. d/b/a )
Mountain Zone TV Systems ) File No. EB-02-TS-070
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Marfa, Texas )
Presidio, Texas )
Fort Davis, Texas )
Balmorhea, Texas )
Marathon, Texas )
Valentine, Texas )
)
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 Neu Ventures, Inc. d.b.a.
Mountain Zone TV Systems (``Mountain Zone'') temporary
waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules
(``Rules'') for the each of the six above-captioned cable
television systems. Specifically, we grant a temporary, 24-
month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Marfa, Texas system
and a temporary, 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
Presidio, Texas; Fort Davis, Texas; Balmorhea, Texas;
Marathon, Texas, and Valentine, Texas 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. Mountain Zone filed a request for temporary waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the six captioned cable systems on
February 15, 2002. Mountain Zone seeks a 24-month waiver for
the Marfa, Texas system and a 36-month waiver for the
Presidio, Texas; Fort Davis, Texas; Balmorhea, Texas;
Marathon, Texas, and Valentine, Texas systems. In support of
its waiver request, Mountain Zone states that each of the six
systems serves small, rural communities, and each system
serves between 32 and 682 subscribers. Based on price quotes
provided by EAS equipment manufacturers, Mountain Zone
estimates that it would cost approximately $9,000 to install
EAS equipment at each of these systems for a total cost of
$54,000. Mountain Zone asserts that the cost of installing
EAS equipment at the six systems will impose a substantial
financial hardship on it and provides financial statements for
2000 and 2001 in support of this assertion. In addition,
Mountain Zone submits that its subscribers will continue to
have ready access to national EAS information from other
sources, including its cable systems. In this regard,
Mountain Zone notes that its subscribers currently have access
to national EAS messages on at least 43 percent of all
programmed channels. Mountain Zone 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.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by Mountain Zone, we conclude that a
temporary, 24-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Marfa,
Texas system and a temporary, 36-month waiver of Section
11.11(a) for the Presidio, Texas; Fort Davis, Texas;
Balmorhea, Texas; Marathon, Texas, and Valentine, Texas
systems are warranted.9 In particular, we find that the
estimated $54,000 cost of EAS equipment for these small cable
systems could impose a financial hardship on Mountain Zone.
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 Neu Ventures, Inc.
d.b.a. Mountain Zone TV Systems IS GRANTED a waiver of Section
11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2004 for its Marfa,
Texas cable system and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a)
of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for its Presidio, Texas;
Fort Davis, Texas; Balmorhea, Texas; Marathon, Texas, and
Valentine, Texas cable systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Neu Ventures, Inc. d.b.a.
Mountain Zone TV Systems 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 Neu Ventures, Inc. d.b.a. Mountain Zone TV Systems,
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 Marfa, Texas system will extend 24 months
from October 1, 2002, until October 1, 2004 and the waiver for
the Presidio, Texas; Fort Davis, Texas; Balmorhea, Texas;
Marathon, Texas, and Valentine, Texas systems will extend 36
months from October 1, 2002, until October 1, 2005. Mountain
Zone also specifically requested waiver of the testing and
monitoring requirements of the EAS rules for these six 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.