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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
North Bonneville Community Cable System ) File No. EB-02-TS-
240
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
North Bonneville, Washington )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: October 9, 2002 Released: October 10,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant North Bonneville Community
Cable System (``North Bonneville'') 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. On May 17, 2002, North Bonneville filed a request for a
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable
system. In support of its request, North Bonneville
states that the small cable system serves between 170
and 175 subscribers. North Bonneville asserts that the
cost to install EAS equipment will impose a substantial
financial hardship on it and provides its financial
statements for 2000 and 2001 in support of this
assertion. In addition, North Bonneville submits that
its subscribers will continue to have ready access to
national EAS information from other sources, including
its cable system's programmed channels. North
Bonneville 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 North Bonneville, 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 cost of EAS
equipment for this small cable system could impose a
financial hardship on North Bonneville.
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 North
Bonneville Community Cable System 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 North Bonneville Community
Cable System place a copy of this waiver in its system
file.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to
Ray Hays, Utility Manager, North Bonneville Community
Cable System, City of North Bonneville, Post Office Box
7, North Bonneville, Washington.
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 from October 1, 2002, until October
1, 2005. 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.