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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the matter of )
)
Cable One, Inc. )
) File No. EB-04-HS-007
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Shelby, Mississippi )
Mound Bayou/Merigold, )
Mississippi )
)
Request for Waiver of Section )
11.11(a) of the
Commission's Rules
ORDER
Adopted: February 10, 2004 Released: February 11,
2004
By the Director, Office of Homeland Security, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Cable One, Inc., (``Cable
One'') eight-month waivers of section 11.11(a) of the
Commission's rules (``Rules'')1 for the two above-
captioned cable television systems. 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, which requires that cable
systems be capable of providing EAS alerts to their
subscribers.3 In 1994, the Commission adopted rules
requiring cable systems to participate in EAS.4 In
1997, the Commission amended the EAS rules to provide
financial relief for small cable systems.5 The
Commission declined to exempt small cable systems from
the EAS requirements entirely, however, concluding that
such an exemption would be inconsistent with the
statutory mandate of section 624(g).6
3. 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.7
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.8
4. On January 9, 2004, Cable One filed a request for
temporary, eight-month waivers of the EAS requirements
of section 11.11(a) of the Rules for the two captioned
small cable systems, which each serve less than 600
subscribers. Cable One filed an amendment to this
waiver request on February 3, 2004, reporting that it
completed the purchase of the captioned small cable
systems on February 1, 2004,9 and requesting temporary
waivers of section 11.11(a) of the Rules through
September 30, 2004. Cable One states that it plans to
interconnect these cable systems to its Cleveland,
Mississippi system which is in full compliance with the
Commission's EAS rules. Based on the costs associated
with bringing other small cable systems into compliance
with the Commission's EAS rules, Cable One estimates
that the cost of installing EAS equipment at the two
above-captioned cable systems would exceed $20,000.
Cable One asserts that the cost of installing EAS
equipment at the two cable systems will impose an
unnecessary financial expenditure since the two headends
will be eliminated once the interconnection is
completed. In addition, Cable One submits that its
subscribers will continue to have ready access to
national EAS information from other sources, including
its cable systems. In this regard, Cable One notes that
its subscribers currently have access to national EAS
messages on a substantial number of all programmed
channels. Finally, Cable One subscribers will have
access to EAS information through over-the-air reception
of broadcast television and radio stations.
5. Based upon our review of the financial data and other
information submitted by Cable One, we conclude that a
temporary, eight-month waiver of section 11.11(a) for
the two captioned systems is warranted.10 In
particular, we find that the approximate $20,000 cost of
installing EAS equipment for these small cable systems
could impose an unnecessary financial expenditure for
Cable One.11
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 0.111,
0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,12 that Cable One,
Inc.'s request for temporary waiver of section 11.11(a)
of the Rules for the two captioned cable television
systems is GRANTED consistent with the discussion and
conclusions in this Order.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Cable One, 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 Cable One, Inc., Stuart F. Feldstein and
Lisa Chandler Cordell, Fleischman and Walsh, L. L. P.,
1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
James A. Dailey
Director, office of Homeland Security
Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 47 C.F.R. § 11.11(a).
2 Id.
3 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).
4 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), reconsideration granted in part,
denied in part, 10 FCC Rcd 11494 (1995).
5 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).
6 Id. at 15512-13.
7 Id. at 15516-15518.
8 Id. at 15513.
9 Cable One acquired these cable systems from Galaxy Cable, Inc.
(``Galaxy''). The FCC previously granted Galaxy temporary 36-
month waivers of Section 11(a) of the Rules which extended from
October 1, 2002, to October 1, 2005. See Galaxy Telecom, L.P.,
Order, 17 FCC Rcd 11805 (Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division, Enforcement Bureau 2002), clarified, Galaxy Cable,
Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 14522 (Chief, Technical and Public Safety
Division, Enforcement Bureau 2003) (``Galaxy Cable''). However,
these waivers do not continue to apply when the cable systems
are sold. See Galaxy Cable, 18 FCC Rcd at 14524.
10 The waivers will extend from February 1, 2004 to October 1,
2004. We clarify that the waivers we are granting also encompass
the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
11 See also, Cable One, Inc., 18 FCC Rcd 7646 (2003) (granting
similar temporary waiver requests).
12 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.