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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Community Cablevision Co. )
) File No. EB-02-TS-438
Operator of Cable Systems in the State of: )
)
Oklahoma )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: November 12, 2002 Released: November 26,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Community Cablevision Co.
(``Community Cablevision'') temporary waivers of Section
11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for 12 cable
television systems in the above-captioned state.
Specifically, we grant a 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a)
for one cable system listed in Attachment A and 36-month
waivers of Section 11.11(a) for eleven cable systems 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 August 23, 2002, Community Cablevision filed a
request for a temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a)
for one cable system and temporary, 36-month waivers of
Section 11.11(a) for eleven cable systems in the State of
Oklahoma. In support of its waiver request, Community
Cablevision states that these are small, rural cable systems
serving between 96 and 1,392 subscribers. Based on price
quotes provided by an EAS equipment manufacturer, Community
Cablevision estimates that it would cost approximately
$100,000 to install EAS equipment at these systems. Community
Cablevision asserts that this cost will impose a substantial
financial hardship on it and provides its 2001and 2002
financial statement in support of this assertion. In
addition, Community Cablevision submits that its subscribers
will continue to have ready access to national EAS information
from other sources, including its cable systems. In this
regard, Community Cablevision notes that its subscribers
currently have access to national EAS messages on at least 51
percent of all programmed channels. Community Cablevision
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 Community Cablevision, we conclude
that a temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) is
warranted for the largest cable system in Attachment A and
temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) are warranted
for the smaller 11 cable systems in Attachment A.9 In
particular, we find that the estimated $100,000 cost of
interconnection and EAS equipment for these small cable
systems could impose a financial hardship on Community
Cablevision.
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 Community
Cablevision Co. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the
Rules until October 1, 2003 for one cable television system in
Attachment A and IS GRANTED a waivers of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until October 1, 2005 for 11 cable televisions
systems in Attachment A.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED the Community Cablevision Co.
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 counsel for
Community Cablevision Co., 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
Cable Systems: Temporary Waiver Granted
Until:
Collinsville, Oklahoma October 1, 2003
Avant, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Barnesdall, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Copan, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Hominy, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Kaw City, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Ochelata, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Oiton, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Ramona, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Shidler, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Wynona, Oklahoma October 1, 2005
Yale, Oklahoma 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 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.