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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Belhaven Cable TV, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-218
)
Operator of Cables Systems in: )
)
Belhaven, North Carolina )
Ocracoke, North Carolina )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: September 27, 2002 Released: October 4,
2002
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Belhaven Cable TV, Inc.,
(``Belhaven Cable'') temporary, 36-month waivers of
Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the
two 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. Belhaven Cable filed a request for temporary, 36-month
waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the two captioned cable
systems on May 30, 2002. In support of its waiver request,
Belhaven Cable states that these are small, coastal cable
systems in North Carolina, with the Belhaven system serving
500 subscribers and the Ocracoke system serving 204
subscribers. Based on estimates from EAS equipment vendors,
EAS equipment and installation will cost Belhaven Cable
approximately $10,000 to install EAS equipment at each of
these systems for a total of $20,000. Belhaven Cable asserts
that this cost will impose a substantial financial hardship on
it and provides its financial statements for 1999 and 2000 in
support of this assertion. In addition, Belhaven Cable
submits that its subscribers will continue to have ready
access to national EAS information from other sources,
including its cable systems. In this regard, Belhaven Cable
notes that its subscribers will continue to have access to
national EAS messages on at least 42 percent of all programmed
channels. Belhaven Cable further submits 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 Belhaven Cable, we conclude that a
temporary, 36-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for the two
captioned systems is warranted.9 In particular, we find that
the estimated $20,000 cost of EAS equipment for these small
cable systems could impose a financial hardship on Belhaven
Cable.
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 Belhaven Cable TV,
Inc., IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules
until October 1, 2005 for each of the two captioned cable
television systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Belhaven Cable TV, 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 Belhaven Cable TV, Inc., Christopher C. Cinnamon, Esq.,
Cinnamon Mueller, 307 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020,
Chicago, Illinois 60601.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Technical and Public Safety
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 The waivers will extend 36 months from October 1, 2002,
until October 1, 2005. Belhaven Cable also specifically
requested waiver of the testing and monitoring requirements of
the EAS rules. 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.