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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
NEPSK, Inc. d/b/a Houlton Cable TV ) File No. EB-02-TS-213
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Howland, Maine )
Danforth, Maine )
Island Falls, Maine )
Medway, Maine )
Monticello, Maine )
Oakfield, Maine )
Patten, Maine )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: September 27, 2002 Released: October 4,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant NEPSK Inc. d/b/a Houlton Cable
TV (``Houlton Cable'') temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a)
of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the each of the
seven above-captioned cable television systems. Specifically,
we grant a temporary, 24-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for
the Howland, Maine cable system and a temporary, 36-month
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Danforth, Maine; Island
Falls, Maine; Medway, Maine; Monticello, Maine; Oakfield,
Maine; and Patten, Maine cable 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. Houlton Cable filed a request for a temporary, 24-month
waiver and a temporary, 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a)
for the seven captioned cable systems on May 24, 2002. In
support of its waiver request, Houlton Cable states that these
are small, rural cable systems which together serve between
122 and 657 subscribers, with six of the cable systems serving
less than 300 subscribers. Based on price quotes provided by
EAS equipment manufacturers, Houlton Cable estimates that it
would cost between $52,000 and $68,000 to install EAS
equipment at the seven systems. Houlton Cable asserts that
the cost of installing EAS equipment at these systems will
impose a substantial financial hardship on it and provides
financial statements for 2000 and 2001 in support of this
assertion. In addition, Houlton 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, Houlton Cable notes that its subscribers
currently have access to national EAS messages on at least 39
percent of all programmed channels. Houlton Cable 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 Houlton Cable, we conclude that a
temporary, 24-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the
Howland, Maine system and a temporary, 36-month waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the Danforth, Island Falls, Medway,
Monticello, Oakfield and Patten, Maine systems are warranted.9
In particular, we find that the estimated cost of between
$52,000 and $68,000 of EAS equipment for these small cable
systems could impose a financial hardship on Houlton 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 NEPSK, Inc. d/b/a
Houlton Cable TV IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until October 1, 2004 for the Howland, Maine cable
television system and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a)
of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for the Danforth, Island
Falls, Medway, Monticello, Oakfield and Patten, Maine cable
television systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that NEPSK, Inc. d/b/a Houlton
Cable TV place a copy of these waivers 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 NEPSK, Inc. d/b/a Houlton Cable TV, 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 24-month waiver will extend 24 months from October 1,
2002, until October 1, 2004 and the 36-month waiver will extend
from October 1, 2002, until October 1, 2005. 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.