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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
US Cable of Coastal-Texas, L.P. ) File No. EB-02-TS-561
)
Operator of Cable Systems in the States of: )
)
Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, )
South Carolina and Texas )
)
Request for Waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: July 1, 2003 Released: July 11, 2003
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant US Cable of Coastal-Texas, L.P.
(``US Cable'') temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a)
of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for 37 cable television
systems in the six above-captioned states. 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 September 25, 2002, US Cable filed a request for
temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for 37 small,
rural cable systems in six captioned states. US Cable states
that these cable systems serve between 25 and 689 subscribers.
Based on price quotes provided by an EAS equipment
manufacturer, US Cable estimates that it would cost
approximately $9,206 per headend for a total of $340,622 to
install EAS equipment at these cable systems. US Cable
asserts that this cost will impose a substantial financial
hardship on it and provides its financial statements for
2001and 2002 in support of this assertion. In addition, US
Cable submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. In this regard, US Cable notes
that its subscribers currently have access to national EAS
messages on more than one-fourth of all programmed channels.
US Cable 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 US Cable we conclude that temporary,
36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the 37 cable systems
in the six captioned states are warranted.9 In particular, we
find that the estimated $340,622 cost of EAS equipment for
these small cable systems could impose a financial hardship on
US Cable.
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 US Cable of Coastal-
Texas, L.P. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the
Rules until October 1, 2005 for the 37 cable television
systems listed in Attachment A.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that US Cable of Coastal-Texas,
L.P. 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 US Cable of Coastal-Texas, L.P., J. Christopher Redding,
Esq., Dow, Lohnes & Albertson, PLLC, 1200 New Hampshire
Avenue, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, D.C. 20036.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division
Enforcement Bureau
Attachment A
US Cable of Coastal-Texas, L.P.
Cable Systems Temporary Waiver Granted
Until:
Colorado
Bailey, Colorado October 1, 2005
Cripple Creek, Colorado October 1, 2005
Greystone, Colorado October 1, 2005
Hudson, Colorado October 1, 2005
Keenesburg, Colorado October 1, 2005
Kersey, Colorado October 1, 2005
Loveland, Colorado October 1, 2005
Platteville, Colorado October 1, 2005
Minnesota
Brewster, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Ceylon, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Dunnel, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Geneva, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Granada, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Hendricks, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Heron Lake, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Mazeppa, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Northrop, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Round Lake, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Storden, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Taylors Falls, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Wanamingo, Minnesota October 1, 2005
Missouri
Edina, Missouri October 1, 2005
Jonesburg, Missouri October 1, 2005
Madison, Missouri October 1, 2005
Paris, Missouri October 1, 2005
Perry, Missouri October 1, 2005
New Mexico
Chama, New Mexico October 1, 2005
Dexter-Hagerman, New Mexico October 1, 2005
Dixon, New Mexico October 1, 2005
Penasco, New Mexico October 1, 2005
Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico October 1, 2005
Cable Systems Temporary Waiver Granted
Until:
South Carolina
Yemassee, South Carolina October 1, 2005
Texas
Comstock, Texas October 1, 2005
Iraan, Texas October 1, 2005
Lajitas, Texas October 1, 2005
Rankin, Texas October 1, 2005
Sanderson, Texas 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 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.