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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Advanced Technologies & Technical ) File No. EB-02-TS-714
Resources, Inc. )
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Village of Ste. Marie, Illinois )
Village of Willow Hill, Illinois)
Village of Iuka, Illinois )
)
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 Advanced Technologies &
Technical Resources, Inc. (``Advanced Technologies'')
temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's
Rules (``Rules'') for the three above-captioned cable
television systems. 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. Advanced Technologies filed a request for temporary,
36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the three captioned
cable systems on November 29, 2002. In support of its waiver
request, Advanced Technologies states that the systems serve
small, rural communities and have between 13 and 66
subscribers. Based on price quotes provided by EAS equipment
manufactures, Advanced Technologies estimates that it would
cost a total of approximately $28,500 to install EAS equipment
at these systems. Advanced Technologies asserts that the cost
of installing EAS equipment at the systems will impose a
substantial financial hardship on it and provides financial
statements for 2000 and 2001 in support of this assertion. In
addition, Advanced Technologies submits that its subscribers
will continue to have ready access to national EAS information
from other sources, including its cable systems. In this
regard, Advanced Technologies notes that its subscribers
currently have access to national EAS messages on at least 76
percent of all programmed channels. Advanced Technologies
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 Advanced Technologies, we conclude
that temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the captioned
systems from November 29, 2002 until October 1, 2005 are
warranted.9 However, we note that Advanced Technologies did
not file its waiver request until November 29, 2002, after the
October 1, 2002 deadline for cable systems serving 10,000 or
fewer subscribers to install EAS equipment. We find that
Advanced Technologies was in violation of the requirement in
Section 11.11(a) of the Rules to install EAS equipment by
October 1, 2002. We admonish Advanced Technologies 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 Advanced
Technologies & Technical Resources, Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver
of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules from November 29, 2002 until
October 1, 2005 for the three captioned cable television
systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Advanced Technologies &
Technical Resources, 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 Advanced Technologies &
Technical Resources, 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 Advanced Technologies & Technical Resources, 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 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.