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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Jordan-Soldier Valley Telephone Company )
) File No. EB-02-TS-440
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Moorhead, Iowa )
Onawa, Iowa )
Soldier, Iowa )
Danbury, Iowa )
Ute, Iowa )
)
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 Jordan-Soldier Valley Telephone
Company (``Jordan-Soldier'') temporary waivers of Section
11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the five
above-captioned cable television systems. Specifically, we
grant 12-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for Moorhead, Iowa,
Onawa, Iowa and Soldier, Iowa cable systems and 36-month
waivers of Section 11.11(a) for Danbury, Iowa and Ute, Iowa
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. On August 22, 2002, Jordan-Soldier filed a request for
temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the five captioned
cable television systems. In support of its waiver request,
Jordan-Soldier states that these are small, rural cable
systems serving between 59 and 781 subscribers. Based on price
quotes provided by an EAS equipment manufacturer, Jordan-
Soldier estimates that it would cost approximately $50,000 to
install EAS equipment at these systems. Jordan-Soldier
asserts that this cost will impose a substantial financial
hardship on it and provides its 2000 2001 financial statement
in support of this assertion. In addition, Jordan-Soldier
submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. In this regard, Jordan-Soldier
notes that its subscribers currently have access to national
EAS messages on at least 42 percent of all programmed
channels. Jordan-Soldier 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 Jordan-Soldier, we conclude that
temporary, 12-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) are warranted
for Moorhead, Onawa and Soldier, Iowa cable systems and
temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) are warranted
for Dunbury and Ute, Iowa cable systems.9 In particular, we
find that the estimated $50,000 cost for installation of EAS
equipment for these small cable systems could impose a
financial hardship on Jordan-Soldier.
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 Jordan-Soldier
Valley Telephone Company IS GRANTED waivers of Section
11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2003 for three
captioned cable television systems and IS GRANTED waivers of
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for two
captioned cable televisions systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Jordan-Soldier Valley
Telephone Company place a copy of these waivers in its systems
files.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested counsel for
Jordan-Soldier Valley Telephone, 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
_________________________
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 waivers 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.