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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Community Communications Company)
and Affiliates ) File No. EB-02-TS-282
)
Operator of Cable Systems in the States of: )
)
Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi )
)
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 Community Communications
Company and Affiliates (``Community'') temporary waivers of
Section 11.11(a) of the Commissions Rules (``Rules'') for 26
of its 27 cable television systems in the three above-
captioned states. Specifically, we grant Community a
temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules
for one cable television system and temporary, 24-month
waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules for 25 other cable
television systems. Also, we deny Community a waiver of
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules for the cable television system
in Monticello, Arkansas. 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 July 2, 2002, Community filed a request for
temporary, 18-month waivers and 36-month waivers of
Section 11.11(a) for 27 small, rural cable systems in the
three captioned states. In support of this request, Community
states that 25 of the cable systems serve between 26 and 621
subscribers. Community also states that it seeks to
interconnect its two larger systems in Warren and Monticello,
Arkansas system which serve 1,772 and 3,260 subscribers,
respectively. Based on price quotes provided by EAS equipment
manufacturers, Community estimates that it would cost a total
of approximately $10,000 to install EAS equipment at each of
these systems for a total cost of $270,000. Community asserts
that this cost will impose a substantial financial hardship on
it and provides its financial statements for 2000 and 2001 in
support of this assertion. In addition, Community 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 notes that its
subscribers currently have access to national EAS messages on
more than 40 percent of all programmed channels. Community
also 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 Community, we find that a waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the Monticello, Arkansas cable system is
not warranted. However, we conclude that a temporary, 12-
month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for Community's Warren,
Arkansas cable system is warranted and that temporary, 24-
month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the other 25 cable
systems is warranted.9 In particular, the estimated $10,000
cost to install EAS equipment at each of the remaining 26
cable systems could impose a financial hardship on Community.
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
Communications Company and Affiliates IS GRANTED a waiver of
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2003 for one
cable television system in Warrenton, Arkansas and IS GRANTED
a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1,
2004 for 25 cable television systems in the states of
Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi as listed in Attachment A.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Community Communications
Company and Affiliates 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 counsel
for Community Communications Company and Affiliates,
Christopher C. Cinnamon, Esq., Cinnamon Mueller, 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
Community Communications Company and Affiliates
Cable Systems: Waivers:
Arkansas
Monticello, Arkansas No Waiver Granted.
Warren, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2003
Amity, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Arkansas City, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Bismarck, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Carpenter's Dam, Arkansas Granted Until
October 1, 2004
Curtis, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Donaldson, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
East Camden, Arkansas Granted Until
October 1, 2004
Eudora, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Gillett, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Glenwood, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Gould, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Hooker, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Jones Mill, Arkansas Granted Until
October 1, 2004
Kingsland, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Magic Springs, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Norman, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Rison, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Royal Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Garland County, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Saline County, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Star City, Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Tillar, Arkansas Granted Until
October 1, 2004
Watson Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2004
Warrenton Arkansas Granted Until October 1,
2003
Louisiana
Kilbourne, Louisiana Granted Until
October 1, 2004
Mississippi
Rosedale, Mississippi Granted Until
October 1, 2004
_________________________
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 24-month waiver will extend from October
1, 2002, until October 1, 2004. 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.