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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Farmers Co-Operative Telephone Company ) File No. EB-02-TS-
185
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Clutier, Iowa )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: September 24, 2002 Released: September 27,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Farmers Co-Operative Telephone
Company (``Farmers Co-Op'') a temporary, 36-month waiver
of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules
(``Rules'') for the above-captioned cable television
system. 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. Farmers Co-Op filed a request for a temporary, 36-month
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable
system on May 10, 2002. In support of its waiver
request, Farmers Co-Op states that the small, rural
cable system serves only 70 subscribers. Based on EAS
equipment price quotes provided by a small cable system
buying group to its members, Farmers Co-Op estimates
that it will cost between $6,000 and $12,000 to install
EAS equipment at this system. Farmers Co-Op asserts that
this cost will impose a substantial financial hardship
on it and provides its financial statement for 2000 and
2001 in support of this assertion. In addition, Farmers
Co-Op submits that its subscribers will continue to have
ready access to national EAS information from other
sources, including its cable systems. In this regard,
Farmers Co-Op notes that its subscribers currently have
access to national EAS messages on 36% of all programmed
channels. Farmers Co-Op also asserts that its
subscribers will have access to EAS information through
over-the-air reception of broadcast television and radio
stations.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by Farmers Co-Op, we conclude that
a temporary, 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
captioned cable system is warranted.9 In particular, we
find that the estimated $6,000 to $12,000 cost of EAS
equipment for this small cable system could impose a
financial hardship on Farmers Co-Op.
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 Farmers Co-
Operative Telephone Company, IS GRANTED a waiver of
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for
the captioned cable television system.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Farmers Co-Operative
Telephone Company 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 Farmers Co-Operative Telephone Company,
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 will extend 36 months from October 1, 2002, until
October 1, 2005. Farmers Co-Op also specifically requested
waiver of the testing and monitoring requirements of the EAS
rules for these systems. We clarify that the waiver we are
granting also encompasses 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.