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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Colane Cable TV, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-549
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Omar, West Virginia )
Delbarton, West Virginia )
Beechcreek, West Virginia )
Hanover, West Virginia )
Bruno, West Virginia )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: November 21, 2002 Released: November 29,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Colane Cable TV, Inc.
(``Colane'') temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the five above-captioned
cable television systems. Specifically, we grant a 12-month
waiver for the Omar, West Virginia cable system and a 36-month
waiver for the Delbarton, West Virginia; Beechcreek, West
Virginia; Hanover, West Virginia and Bruno, West Virginia
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. Colane filed a request for temporary waivers of the EAS
requirements of Section 11.11(a) for the five captioned cable
systems on September 24, 2002. In support of its waiver
request, Colane states that these are five small, rural cable
systems, which serve between 165 and 1,531 subscribers.
Colane asserts that the cost of installing EAS equipment at
the five systems will impose a substantial financial hardship
on it and provides its financial statements for 2000 and 2001
in support of this assertion. In addition, Colane submits
that its subscribers will continue to have ready access to
national EAS information from other sources, including its
cable systems. In this regard, Colane notes that its
subscribers currently have access to national EAS messages on
at least ten of all programmed channels. Finally, Colane
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 Colane, we conclude that a temporary,
12 month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the Omar, West
Virginia cable system and a 36-month waiver for the Delbarton,
West Virginia; Beechcreek, West Virginia; Hanover, West
Virginia and Bruno, West Virginia cable systems is warranted.9
In particular, we find that the cost of EAS equipment for
these five small cable systems could impose a financial
hardship on Colane.
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 Colane Cable TV,
Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules
until October 1, 2003 for the cable television system in Omar,
West Virginia and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until October 1, 2005 for the cable television
systems in Delbarton, West Virginia; Beechcreek, West
Virginia; Hanover, West Virginia and Bruno, West Virginia.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Colane Cable TV, Inc., 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 Gary
Bowen, General Manager, Colane Cable TV, Inc., P.O. Box 610,
Omar, West Virginia 25638-2871.
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 12-month waiver will extend from October 1, 2002, until
October 1, 2003, and the 36-month waivers 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.