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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
D&P Cable, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-673
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Petersburg, Michigan )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: July 9, 2003 Released: July 14, 2003
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant D&P Cable, Inc. (``D&P Cable'')
a temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's
Rules (``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
3. D&P Cable filed a request for a temporary, six-month
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable system on
October 21, 2002. In support of its waiver request, D&P Cable
states that shipment of EAS equipment for this small, rural
cable system, with approximately 2,950 subscribers, was
scheduled for delivery in August 2002. D&P Cable further
states that the EAS equipment was delivered late and once
installed did not work properly. D&P Cable submits that
although its vendor promised prompt delivery of replacement
EAS equipment, there has been a delay. D&P Cable asserts its
subscribers will continue to have ready access to national EAS
information from other sources, including its cable system.
Finally, D&P Cable believes that it can bring the captioned
cable system into EAS compliance within the next six months.
4. Based upon our review of the information submitted by
D&P Cable, we conclude that a temporary waiver of Section
11.11(a) for the captioned cable system from October 21, 2002
until April 1, 2003 is warranted.7 However, we note that D&P
Cable did not file its waiver request until October 21, 2002,
after the October 1, 2002 deadline for cable systems serving
10,000 or fewer subscribers to install EAS equipment. We find
that D&P Cable was in violation of the requirement in Section
11.11(a) of the Rules to install EAS equipment by October 1,
2002. We admonish D&P Cable for this violation.
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,8 D&P Cable, Inc. IS
GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules from October
21, 2002 until April 1, 2003 for the captioned cable
television system.
6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that D&P Cable, Inc. is
ADMONISHED for violating the requirement in Section 11.11(a)
of the Rules to install EAS equipment by October 1, 2002.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that D&P Cable, Inc. place a copy
of this waiver in its system file.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for D&P Cable, Inc., Marci E. Greenstein, Esq., Kraskin, Lesse
& Cosson, LLP, 2120 L Street, N.W., Suite 520, Washington,
D.C. 20037.
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 We clarify that the waiver we are granting also encompasses
the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
8 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.