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

In the Matter of )
)
CableSouth, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-654
)
Operator of Cable Systems in the States of )
)
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, )
Mississippi and Texas )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )

ORDER

Adopted: February 25, 2003 Released: March 3, 2003

By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:

1. In this Order, we grant CableSouth, Inc.
(``CableSouth'') temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for 41 cable television systems
in the six above-captioned states. Specifically, we grant a
temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) one cable
television system in West Atlanta, Georgia and temporary, 36-
month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for 40 cable television
systems in the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas. 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. On September 20, 2002, CableSouth filed a request for
waivers of Section 11.11(a) for 41 small, rural cable systems
in the six captioned states. In support of its waiver
request, CableSouth states that one cable system in West
Atlanta, Georgia serves approximately 1,219 subscribers and 40
cable systems in the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas serve between 14 and 537 subscribers.
Based on price quotes from EAS equipment manufacturers,
CableSouth estimates that it would cost approximately $6,500
to install EAS equipment at each of these systems for a total
cost of $266,500. CableSouth 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, CableSouth submits that its
subscribers will continue to have ready access to national EAS
information from other sources, including its cable systems.
In this regard, CableSouth notes that its subscribers
currently have access to national EAS messages on six or more
programmed channels. CableSouth 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 CableSouth, we conclude that a
temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for one cable
system in West Atlanta, Georgia is warranted, and temporary,
36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for 40 cable systems in
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are
warranted.9 In particular, we find that the estimated
$266,500 cost of EAS equipment for these small cable systems
could impose a financial hardship on CableSouth.

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.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 CableSouth, Inc. IS
GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until
October 1, 2003 for one cable television system listed in
Attachment A and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until October 1, 2005 for 40 cable television
systems listed in Attachment A.

7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that CableSouth, Inc. place a
copy of this waiver in its system files.

8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for CableSouth, Inc., Rebecca H. Duke, Esq., Holland & Knight
LLP, 2099 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 100, Washington,
D.C. 20006-6801.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division
Enforcement Bureau
Attachment A

CableSouth, Inc.

Cable Systems: Temporary Waiver Granted
Until:

Alabama
Akron, Alabama October 1, 2005
Alabama Port, Alabama October 1, 2005
Atmore, Alabama October 1, 2005
Chatom, Alabama October 1, 2005
Gilbertown, Alabama October 1, 2005
Grand Bay, Alabama October 1, 2005
Leesburg, Alabama October 1, 2005
Maplesville, Alabama October 1, 2005
McCall, Alabama October 1, 2005
Millry, Alabama October 1, 2005
North Brewton, Alabama October 1, 2005
St. Elmo, Alabama October 1, 2005
Turnerville, Alabama October 1, 2005
Wilmer, Alabama October 1, 2005

Florida
Bratt, Florida October 1, 2005

Georgia
West Atlanta, Georgia October 1, 2003

Louisiana
Cecilia, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Coteau Homes, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Egan, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Ethel, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Four Corners, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Forked Island, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Grand Lake, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Henry, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Mire, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Norwood/Wilson, Louisiana October 1, 2005
Pecaniere, Louisiana October 1, 2005

Mississippi
Centreville, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Franklin Creek, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Hancock, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Kiln, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Gloster, Mississippi October 1, 2005Cable Systems: Temporary Waiver Granted
Until:

Liberty, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Lucedale I, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Lucedale II, Mississippi October 1, 2005
Woodville, Mississippi October 1, 2005

Texas
Campbell, Texas October 1, 2005
Cedar Creek, Texas October 1, 2005
Country Club Shore, Texas October 1, 2005
Harbor Point, Texas October 1, 2005
Seven Points, Texas October 1, 2005

_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. ї 11.11(a).

2 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of
1992, Pub. L. No. 102-385, ї 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. ї 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 The 12-month waivers will extend from October 1, 2002
October 1, 2003. The 36-month waivers will extend from October
1, 2002, until October 1, 2005. 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 І 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 І 70.

12 47 C.F.R. її 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.