Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Arlington TV Cooperative, Inc. ) No. EB-02-TS-662
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Arlington, Oregon )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: August 14, 2003 Released: August 18,
2003
By the Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Arlington TV Cooperative, Inc.
(``Arlington TV'') 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 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. Arlington TV filed a request for a temporary, 36-month
waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned small, rural
cable system on October 17, 2002. In support of its waiver
request, Arlington TV states that this cable system serves
approximately 92 subscribers. Based on price quotes provided
by EAS equipment manufacturers, Arlington TV estimates that it
would cost approximately $6,800 to install EAS equipment at
this system. Arlington TV asserts that this cost will impose
a substantial financial hardship on it and provides its
financial statements for 2000, 2001 and 2002 in support of
this assertion. In addition, Arlington TV submits that its
subscribers will continue to have ready access to national EAS
information from other sources, including its cable system.
In this regard, Arlington TV notes that its subscribers
currently have access to national EAS messages on
approximately 68 percent of all programmed channels.
Arlington TV 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 Arlington TV, we conclude that a
temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable
system from October 17, 2002 until October 1, 2005 is
warranted.9 However, we note that Arlington TV did not file
its waiver request until October 17, 2002, after the October
1, 2002 deadline for cable systems serving 10,000 or fewer
subscribers to install EAS equipment We find that Arlington
TV was in violation of the requirement in Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules to install EAS equipment by October 1, 2002. We
admonish Arlington TV for this violation.
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.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 Arlington TV
Cooperative, Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules from October 17, 2002 until October 1, 2005 for the
captioned cable television system.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Arlington TV Cooperative,
Inc. IS ADMONISHED for violating the requirement in Section
11.11(a) of the Rules to install EAS equipment by October 1,
2002.
8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Arlington TV Cooperative,
Inc. place a copy of this waiver 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 Arlington TV Cooperative, Inc., Christopher C. Cinnamon,
Esq., Cinnamon Mueller, 307 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020,
Chicago, Illinois 60601.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Spectrum Enforcement 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 We clarify that the waiver we are granting also encompasses
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.