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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Eagle West , LLC ) File No. EB-02-TS-422
)
Operator of Cable Systems in the States of: )
)
Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada )
)
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: October 10, 2002 Released: October 16,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Eagle West, LLC (``Eagle
West'') temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for 33 cable television systems
in the three 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. Eagle West filed a request for a permanent waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for 33 cable television systems in the three
captioned states on August 14, 2002. Eagle West states that
these cable systems serve between 23 and 2,738 subscribers.
Eagle West asserts that the cost of EAS equipment will impose
a substantial financial hardship on it and provides its
financial statements for 1999 and 2000 in support of this
assertion. In addition, Eagle West submits that its
subscribers will continue to have ready access to national EAS
information from other sources, including its cable systems.
Eagle West 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 Eagle West, we conclude that
temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the 33
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 Eagle West, LLC. IS
GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until
October 1, 2005 for thirty-three cable television systems
listed in Attachment A.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Eagle West, LLC. 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 Al H.
Williams, Consultant, Eagle West, LLC 9333 East Main Street
Suite 122 Mesa, Arizona 85207..
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division
Enforcement Bureau
Attachment A
Eagle West, LLC
Cable Systems: Waivers:
Arizonia
Alpine, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Bagdad, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Black Canyon City, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Casa Grande, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Christopher Creek, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Concho Valley, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Eagar/Springerville, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Florence, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
St. Johns, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Thompson Draw, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Williams, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Yarnell, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Arizona City, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Cave Creek, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Hayden, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Winkelman, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Dudleyville, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Indian Hills, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Heber, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Overgaard, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Kearny, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Mammoth, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Oracle, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Peach Springs, Arizona Granted Until
October 1, 2005
San Manuel, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Superior, Arizona Granted Until October 1,
2005
Nevada
Beatty, Nevada Granted Until October 1,
2005
Boulder City, Nevada Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Calville Bay, Nevada Granted Until
October 1, 2005
Goldfield, Nevada Granted Until October 1,
2005
Tonopah, Nevada Granted Until October 1,
2005
New Mexico
Reserve, New Mexico Granted Until October 1,
2005
_________________________
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. Additionally, 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.