Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
HLM Cable Corporation ) File No. EB-02-TS-196
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Auburndale, Wisconsin )
Junction City, Wisconsin )
Pittsville, Wisconsin )
Rudolph, Wisconsin )
Vesper, Wisconsin )
)
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 HLM Cable Corporation (``HLM
Cable'') temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a)
of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the five
above-captioned cable television 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. HLM Cable filed a request for temporary, 36-month
waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the five captioned cable
systems on May 16, 2002. In support of its waiver
request, HLM Cable states that the five small, rural
cable systems each serve between 68 and 320 subscribers.
Based on a price quote provided by an EAS equipment
manufacturer, HLM Cable estimates that it will cost a
total of approximately $46,470 to install EAS equipment
at the five systems. HLM Cable 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, HLM Cable
submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. In this regard, HLM Cable
notes that its subscribers currently have access to
national EAS messages on at least 42 percent of all
programmed channels. HLM Cable also asserts that its
subscribers will have access to EAS information through
over-the-air reception of broadcast television and radio
stations. Finally, HLM believes that it can fund EAS
equipment for these systems in the next three years.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by HLM Cable, we conclude that a
temporary, 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
five captioned systems is warranted.9 In particular, we
find that the estimated $46,470 cost of EAS equipment
for these small cable systems could impose a financial
hardship on HLM Cable.
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 HLM Cable
Corporation IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until October 1, 2005 for the five captioned
cable television systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that HLM Cable Corporation 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 HLM Cable Corporation, 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 waivers will extend 36 months from October 1, 2002,
until October 1, 2005. HLM Cable also requested waiver of the
testing and monitoring requirements of the EAS rules for these
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.