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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Bee Line, Inc. / Bee Line Cable TV ) File No. EB-02-TS-648
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Millinocket, Maine )
Madison, Maine )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: July 1, 2003 Released: July 3, 2003
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Bee Line, Inc. / Bee Line Cable
TV (``Bee Line'') temporary, two-month waivers of Section
11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the two
above-captioned cable television systems. Section 11.11(a)
requires cable systems serving more than 5,000 but fewer than
10,000 subscribers from a headend to install Emergency Alert
System (``EAS'') equipment and begin providing EAS audio and
video messages on all channels by October 1, 2002.1 Section
11.11(a) requires cable systems serving fewer than 5,000
subscribers from a headend to either provide national level
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.
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
3. Bee Line filed a request for a temporary waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the two captioned cable systems on
October 1, 2002. In support of its waiver request, Bee Line
states that its Millinocket cable system serves 3,000
subscribers and Madison cable system serves 7,000 subscribers.
Bee Line further states that it ordered EAS equipment for its
two small, rural cable systems on April 10, 2002 through a
cable television cooperative. Bee Line asserts that it
contacted the EAS equipment vendor who indicated that the
order was not received and promised delivery of EAS equipment
within a two-week period. Finally, Bee Line believes that it
can bring the captioned cable systems into EAS compliance by
November 1, 2002.
4. Based upon our review of the information submitted by
Bee Line, we conclude that temporary, one-month waivers of
Section 11.11(a) for the two captioned cable systems are
warranted.7
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,8 Bee Line, Inc. / Bee
Line Cable TV IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the
Rules until November 1, 2002 for the two captioned cable
television systems.
6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Bee Line, Inc. / Bee Line
Cable TV place a copy of this waiver in its system files.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for Bee Line, Inc. / Bee Line Cable TV, Henry A. Solomon,
Esq., Garvey Schubert Barer, 1000 Potomac Street, N.W., Fifth
Floor, Flour Mill Building, Washington, D.C. 20007-3501.
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 The waivers will extend from October 1, 2002 until November
1, 2002. We clarify that the waivers we are granting also
encompass the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
8 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.