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                           Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                )
                                )
Williamson Road TV Co., Inc.    )    No. EB-02-TS-700
                                )
Operator of Cable System in:    )
                                )    
Blossburg, Pennsylvania         )
                                )
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the     )    
Commission's Rules              )    
                                        
                              ORDER 

Adopted:  August 19, 2003               Released:    August   21, 
2003

By the Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau:

1.        In this Order,  we grant Williamson  Road TV Co.,  Inc. 
  (``Williamson Road'')  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.        Williamson Road filed a request for a waiver of Section 
  11.11(a)  for  the  captioned  small,  rural  cable  system  on 
  January 9, 2003.  In support of its waiver request,  Williamson 
  Road states  that this  cable system  serves approximately  609 
  subscribers.   Based  on  price  quotes  provided  by  an   EAS 
  equipment vendor, Williamson Road estimates that it would  cost 
  a minimum of $20,000  to install EAS equipment at this  system.  
  Williamson  Road   asserts  that  this   cost  will  impose   a 
  substantial  financial   hardship  on  it   and  provides   its 
  financial  statements for  2000 and  2001  in support  of  this 
  assertion.   In  addition, Williamson  Road  submits  that  its 
  subscribers will continue to have ready access to national  EAS 
  information from  other sources, including  its cable  systems.  
  In  this regard,  Williamson Road  notes that  its  subscribers 
  currently have access to  national EAS messages on at least  20 
  programmed  channels.  Williamson  Road 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 Williamson Road,  we conclude that  a 
  temporary waiver  of Section 11.11(a)  for the captioned  cable 
  system  from  January   9,  2003  until  October  1,  2005   is 
  warranted.9   However, we  note that  Williamson Road  did  not 
  file  its waiver  request  until  January 9,  2003,  after  the 
  October 1,  2002 deadline for cable  systems serving 10,000  or 
  fewer  subscribers to  install  EAS equipment.   We  find  that 
  Williamson Road was in violation of the requirement in  Section 
  11.11(a) of  the Rules to install  EAS equipment by October  1, 
  2002.  We admonish Williamson Road 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 Williamson Road  TV 
  Co., Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the  Rules 
  from January  9, 2003 until October  1, 2005 for the  captioned 
  cable television system.

7.        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Williamson Road TV Co., 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 Williamson Road TV Co., Inc. 
  place a copy of this waiver in its system files.

9.        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that  a copy of this Order  shall 
  be sent by  Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to  counsel 
  for Williamson  Road TV Co.,  Inc., Sandra K.  Olson, Esq.,  16 
  Pearl  Street, Post  Office  Box 304,  Wellsboro,  Pennsylvania 
  16901. 

                         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.