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


                                 
In the Matter of                )
                                )
MediaOne of Georgia, Inc.       )  CUID No. GA 00222 (Unincorporated
                                )                      Gwinnett County)
                                )
                                )
Complaint Regarding             )
Cable Programming Services Tier Rates)

                              ORDER

     Adopted:  March 14, 1997                Released:  March 17, 1997     

By the Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division, Cable Services Bureau:

     1.   In this Order we dismiss a complaint about the rates of the above-referenced operator
("Operator") for its cable programming services tier ("CPST") in the community referenced above
because the complaint concerns a rate that is outside the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications
Commission ("Commission").  

     2.   The Communications Act authorizes the Federal Communications Commission
("Commission") to review the CPST rates of cable systems not subject to effective competition to
ensure that rates charged are not unreasonable.  The Cable Television Consumer Protection and
Competition Act of 1992 ("1992 Cable Act") requires the Commission to review CPST rates upon
the filing of a valid complaint by a subscriber or local franchise authority ("LFA").  If the
Commission finds the rate to be unreasonable, it shall determine the correct rate and any refund
liability.

     3.   On February 21, 1996, the Commission returned as untimely a complaint against a
CPST rate increase imposed by Operator effective December 1, 1995 filed by Gwinnett County, the
local franchising authority ("LFA") for Unincorporated Gwinnett County.  The LFA refiled its
complaint on April 25, 1996, and alleged that its complaint was improperly returned because it was
filed within 45 days of a CPST rate increase pursuant to the Commission's rules.    

     4.   In its opposition to the LFA's request for reinstatement of its complaint, Operator
argues that the LFA's initial complaint was untimely filed and properly returned by the
Commission.  Also, Operator argues that its CPST rate is not subject to regulation because it is
subject to effective competition in Unincorporated Gwinnett County.   

     5.   Where the operator claims that it faces effective competition, the Commission's Rules
require the cable operator to produce information that rebuts the presumption that it is not subject
to effective competition.  Operator's claim of effective competition is based on the competing
provider test for effective competition set forth in Section 76.905 of the Commission's Rules. 
Under the competing provider test a cable system is deemed subject to effective competition  where
the franchise area is: 1) served by at least two unaffiliated multichannel video programming
distributors ("MVPDs") each of which offers comparable programming to at least 50 percent of the
households in the franchise area; and 2) the number of households subscribing to multichannel video
programming other than the largest MVPD exceeds 15 percent of the households in the franchise
area.  

     6.   Contemporaneous with this Order, we are issuing a decision in which we find that
effective competition exists in the Unincorporated Gwinnett County franchise area.  See In the
Matter of MediaOne of Georgia, Inc., DA 97-550 (Cab. Serv. Bur. adopted: March 14, 1997). 
Consequently, we lack jurisdiction to regulate the CPST rates in Unincorporated Gwinnett County. 
As a result, we need not take action on LFA's request to reinstate its returned complaint or address
whether the complaint filed on April 25, 1996 is timely because our finding of effective competition
renders these issues moot.     

     7.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 0.321 of the Commission's Rules,
47 C.F.R.  0.321, that the complaint against the CPST rate charged by Operator in Unincorporated
Gwinnett County, Georgia,  CUID No. GA0222, IS DISMISSED. 

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 



                              Elizabeth W. Beaty
                              Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division
                              Cable Services Bureau