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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Northwest Community Communications, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-
TS-568
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Amery, Wisconsin )
)
Request for Waiver 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 deny Northwest Community
Communications, Inc. (``Northwest'') a temporary waiver of
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules for the above-captioned cable
television system. 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. Northwest filed a request for a temporary, 24-month
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable system on
September 27, 2002. In support of its waiver request,
Northwest states that this is a small, rural cable system
which serves 2,440 subscribers. Northwest further states that
it is in the process of a costly upgrade and determining its
system's configuration. Based on price quotes provided by EAS
equipment vendors, Northwest estimates that, depending on its
system's ultimate configuration, it would cost between $10,000
and $20,000 to install EAS equipment at the captioned system.
Northwest asserts that this cost will impose a substantial
financial hardship on it and provides its financial statement
for 2001 in support of this assertion. In addition, Northwest
submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. In this regard, Northwest notes
that its subscribers currently have access to national EAS
messages on at least 43 percent of all programmed channels.
Northwest further 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 Northwest, we decline to grant a
temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules for the
captioned cable system. Further, we conclude that the
information submitted by Northwest does not show that the
estimated $10,000 to $20,000 cost of EAS equipment could
impose a substantial financial hardship on this cable system.
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.9 Based on comments from equipment
manufacturers, we anticipate that such a decoder-only system
could result in significant cost savings to small cable
systems.10
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,11 Northwest Community
Communications, Inc. IS DENIED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules for the captioned cable television system.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Northwest Community
Communications, Inc. is afforded until February 1, 2002 to
bring the captioned cable television system into compliance
with Section 11.11(a).
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Northwest Community
Communications, Inc. place a copy of this order in its system
file.
9. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for Northwest Community Communications, Inc., 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
_________________________
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 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).
10 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.
11 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.