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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Pine Rural TV Cable Company ) File No. EB-02-TS-474
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Haworth, Oklahoma )
)
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 Pine Rural TV Cable Company
(``Pine Rural'') 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. Pine Rural filed a request for a permanent waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable system on August 21,
2002. In support of its waiver request, Pine Rural states
that this is a small, rural cable system which serves 60
subscribers. Based on price quotes provided by EAS equipment
vendors, Pine Rural estimates that it would cost $7,790 to
purchase and install EAS equipment at this system. Pine Rural
asserts that this cost will impose a substantial financial
hardship on it. In addition, Pine Rural submits that its
subscribers will continue to have ready access to national EAS
information from other sources, including its cable systems.
Pine Rural further submits 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 Pine Rural, we find that a permanent
waiver of Section 11.11(a) is not warranted. However, 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 $7,790 cost of EAS equipment for
this small cable system could impose a financial hardship on
Pine Rural..
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 Pine Rural TV Cable
Company 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 Pine Rural TV Cable Company
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 counsel
for Pine Rural TV Cable Company., Howard J. Barr Esq., WOMBLE,
CARLYLE, SANDRIDGE & RICE, 1401 Eye Street, N.W. Washington,
DC 20005.
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 36 months from October 1, 2002, until
October 1, 2005. Additionally, we clarify that the waiver 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.