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


In the matter of                 )
                                )
LB Cable Florida LLC             )
                                )
Operator of Cable Systems in:    )
                                )
Dowling Park, Florida            )
Holiday Heights, Florida         )    Filed No.: EB-04-HS-020
Lee, Florida                     )
Live Oak, Florida                )
Marion Co./Highlands, Florida    )
Oak Forest, Florida              )
Ozello, Florida                  )
                                )
Request for Waivers of Section   )
11.11(a) of the Commission's     )
Rules


                              ORDER

   Adopted:  July 6, 2004                    Released:  July 8, 
2004

By the Director, Office of Homeland Security, Enforcement Bureau
      
     1.   In this Order, we grant LB Cable Florida LLC (LB  Cable 
Florida) temporary  waivers of  section 11.11(a)  of the  Federal 
Communications Commission's (Commission)  rules (Rules)1 for  the 
seven-above  captioned  cable  television  systems  in   Florida.  
Section 11.11(a)  of the  Rules  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, 2002.2

     2.   The Cable Act of 1992  added new Section 624(g) to  the 
Communications Act of 1934, as  amended3 and required that  cable 
systems be capable of providing EAS alerts to their subscribers.4  
In 1994, the Commission adopted rules requiring cable systems  to 
participate in EAS.5   In 1997,  the Commission  amended the  EAS 
rules to provide financial relief for small cable systems.6   The 
Commission declined to  exempt small cable  systems from the  EAS 
requirements entirely, concluding that such an exemption would be 
inconsistent with the statutory mandate of section 624(g).7   The 
amended rules  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.8  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.9  

     3.   On March 2, 2004, LB Cable Florida filed a request  for 
temporary waivers  of  the  EAS  requirements  for  the  recently 
acquired small cable systems in rural Florida, asserting that the 
cost of  immediate installation  of EAS  equipment in  the  seven 
systems would cause financial hardship.  LB Cable Florida  states 
that it  acquired  the seven  systems  in a  bankruptcy  sale  on 
February 2,  2004, and  therefore,  has not  had enough  time  to 
generate sufficient revenue to purchase and install EAS equipment 
at  this  time.   Based  on  price  quotes  from  EAS   equipment 
manufacturers, LB  Cable Florida  estimates  that it  would  cost 
approximately $70,000 to purchase  and install the EAS  equipment 
at the seven headends.  LB Cable Florida asserts that without the 
requested waivers, it may  have to delay  or cancel its  upgrades 
and interconnections, which would delay or eliminate the delivery 
of advanced broadband services  to over 1,300 rural  subscribers.  
Finally, LB Cable Florida contends that subscribers will continue 
to have  ready  access to  national  EAS information  from  other 
sources, including its cable system and over-the-air reception of 
broadcast television and radio stations.  

     4.   Based on our review of the information submitted by  LB 
Cable Florida,  we conclude  that  temporary waivers  of  section 
11.11(a)  of  the  Rules  for  the  seven  above-captioned  cable 
systems,  are  warranted.   In  particular,  we  find  that   the 
estimated cost of $70,000 to  purchase and install EAS  equipment 
at these recently acquired cable television systems could  impose 
a financial hardship on LB Cable Florida.  


     5.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED  that, pursuant to  sections 
0.111, 0204(b) and 0.311 of  the rules,10 LB Cable Florida  LLC's 
request for temporary waivers of section 11.11(a) of the rules is 
GRANTED until  October 1,  2005,  for its  seven  above-captioned 
cable television systems in Florida.11


     6.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that LB Cable Florida LLC place a 
copy of this waiver in its system files.


     7.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that  a copy of this Order  shall 
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel for 
LB Cable  Florida LLC,  Christopher C.  Cinnamon, Esq.,  Cinnamon 
Muller, 307 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020, Chicago,  Illinois  
60601. 



                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


                              James A. Dailey
                              Director, Office of Homeland 
                              Security
                              Enforcement Bureau
 




                 












_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. § 11.11(a).
2 Id.
3  The   Communications  Act   of  1934   was  amended   by   the 
Telecommunications Act of 1996.  Pub.  L. No. 104-104, 110  Stat. 
56 (1996 Act). 
4 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).  
5 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, 10 FCC Rcd 1786  (1994), 
reconsideration granted in part, denied in part, 10 FCC Rcd 11494 
(1995).
6 Amendment  of Part  73, Subpart  G, of  the Commission's  Rules 
Regarding the  Emergency  Broadcast  System,  Second  Report  and 
Order, 12 FCC Rcd 15503 (1997).
7 Id. at 15512-13.
8 Id. at 15516-15518.
9 Id. at 15513.
10 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.
11 We clarify that these  waivers also encompass the EAS  testing 
and monitoring requirements.