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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Millennium Digital Media Systems, L.L.C. ) File No. EB-02-
TS-232
)
Operator of Cable Systems in the States of: )
)
Idaho, Michigan, Oregon and 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 Millennium Digital Media
Systems, L.L.C. (``Millennium'') temporary, 12-month waivers
of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for
six cable television systems in two of the above-captioned
states and temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules for 26 cable television systems in four of the
above-captioned states as listed in Attachment A. 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 June 4, 2002, Millennium filed a request for
temporary, 36 month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for 32
small, rural cable television systems operating in the four
captioned states. In support of its waiver request,
Millennium states that six of the cable systems serve between
1,071 and 1,603 subscribers and 26 of the cable systems serve
between 37 and 976 subscribers. Based on price quotes
provided by EAS equipment manufacturers, Millennium estimates
that it would cost a total of $320,000 to install EAS
equipment at these cable systems. Millennium 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, Millennium submits that its subscribers will
continue to have ready access to national EAS information from
other sources, including its cable systems. In this regard,
Millennium notes that its subscribers currently have access to
national EAS messages on a approximately 38 percent of all
programmed channels. Millennium 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 Millennium, we do not find that a
temporary, 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for each of the
32 cable systems is warranted. However, we find that the
estimated $320,000 cost of EAS equipment for these small cable
systems could impose financial hardship on Millennium.
Therefore, we conclude that temporary, 12-month waivers of
Section 11.11(a) for six of the cable systems in Attachment A
and temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for 26 of
the cable systems in Attachment A are warranted.9
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 Millennium Digital
Media Systems, L.L.C. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a)
of the Rules until October 1, 2003 for six of the cable
television systems in Attachment A and IS GRANTED a waiver of
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for 26 of
the cable television systems listed in Attachment A.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Millennium Digital Media
Systems, L.L.C. 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 Millennium Digital Media Systems, L.L.L., Christopher C.
Cinnamon, Esq., Cinnamon & Muller, 307 North Michigan Avenue,
Suite 1020, Chicago, Illinois 60601.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division
Enforcement Bureau
Attachment A
Millennium Digital Media Systems, L.L.C.
Cable Systems: Temporary Waiver Granted
Until:
Idaho
Buhl, Idaho October 1, 2005
Shoshone, Idaho October 1, 2005
Michigan
Grass Lake, Michigan October 1, 2005
Union City, Michigan October 1, 2003
Vermontville, Michigan October 1, 2005
Oregon
Salmon River, Oregon October 1, 2005
Washington
Anderson Island, Washington October 1, 2005
Bellingham, Washington October 1, 2005
Bridgeport Bar, Washington October 1, 2005
Carson, Washington October 1, 2005
Chelan, Washington October 1, 2003
Concrete, Washington October 1, 2005
Creston, Washington October 1, 2005
Darrington, Washington October 1, 2005
Easton, Washington October 1, 2005
Echo Lake, Washington October 1, 2003
Entiat, Washington October 1, 2005
Forks, Washington October 1, 2003
Key Penninsula, Washington October 1, 2005
Lake Roesinger, Washington October 1, 2003
Mansfield, Washington October 1, 2005
Manson, Washington October 1, 2005
Marblemount, Washington October 1, 2005
Napavine, Washington October 1, 2005
Packwood, Washington October 1, 2005
Pe Ell, Washington October 1, 2005
Randle, Washington October 1, 2005
South Port, Washington October 1, 2005
Thorpe, Washington October 1, 2005
Twisp, Washington October 1, 2005
Waterville, Washington October 1, 2005
Whidbey Island, Washington October 1, 2003
_________________________
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 12-month waiver will extend from October 1, 2002, until
October 1, 2003 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.