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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
CableAmerica Corporation ) File No. EB-02-TS-458
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Coolidge, Arizona )
Gila Bend, Arizona )
Eagle Harbor, Michigan )
Doolittle, Missouri )
Maryland Heights, Missouri )
Richland, Missouri )
)
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 CableAmerica Corporation
(``CableAmerica'') temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of
the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the each of the six
above-captioned cable television systems. Specifically, we
grant temporary, 12-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the
Coolidge, Arizona and Maryland Hieghts, Missouri cable systems
and temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the
Gilda Bend, Arizona, Eagle Harbor, Michigan, Doolittle,
Missouri and Richland, Missouri 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. CableAmerica filed a request for temporary, 12-month
waivers and temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a)
for the six captioned cable systems on August 23, 2002. In
support of its waiver request, CableAmerica states that these
are small, rural cable systems which serve between 160 and
3,715 subscribers. Based on price quotes provided by EAS
equipment vendors, CableAmerica estimates that it would cost
approximately $48,000 to install EAS equipment at the six
systems. CableAmerica asserts that the cost of installing EAS
equipment at these systems will impose a substantial financial
hardship on it and provides financial statements for 2000 and
2001 in support of this assertion. In addition, CableAmerica
submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. CableAmerica also asserts that
its subscribers will have access to EAS information through
over-the-air reception of broadcast television and radio
stations and other sources.
4. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by CableAmerica, we conclude that
temporary, 12-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the
Coolidge, Arizona and Maryland Heights, Missouri systems and
temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the Gila
Bend, Arizona, Eagle Harbor, Michigan, Doolittle and Richland,
Missouri systems are warranted.9 In particular, we find that
the estimated cost of $48,000 of EAS equipment for these small
cable systems could impose a financial hardship on
CableAmerica.
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 CableAmerica
Corporation IS GRANTED a waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Rules until October 1, 2003 for the Coolidge, Arizona and
Maryland Heights, Missouri cable television systems and IS
GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until
October 1, 2005 for the Gilda Bend, Arizona, Eagle Harbor,
Michigan, Doolittle and Richland, Missouri cable television
systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that CableAmerica Corporation
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 to counsel
for CableAmerica Corporation, James F. Ireland, Esq., Cole,
Raywid and Braverman, 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite
200, Washington, D.C. 20006.
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.