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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Blakely Cable Television, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-625
)
Operator of Cables Systems in: )
)
Columbia, Alabama )
Baconton, Georgia )
Blakely, Georgia )
Leary, Georgia )
Morgan, Georgia )
Newton, Georgia )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: July 9, 2003 Released: July 14, 2003
By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement
Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Blakely Cable Television, Inc.
(``Blakely Cable'') temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) of
the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the six above-captioned
cable television systems. Specifically, we grant a 12-month
waiver for the cable system in Blakely, Georgia and a 36-month
waiver for the cable systems in Columbia, Alabama and
Baconton, Leary, Morgan, and Newton, Georgia. 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. Blakely Cable filed a request for temporary, 12-month
and temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the
six captioned small, rural cable systems on September 30,
2002. In support of its waiver request, Blakely Cable states
that the Blakely, Georgia system serves 1,676 subscribers and
that each of the five other systems serve between 57 and 251
subscribers. Based on price quotes from EAS equipment
manufacturers, Blakely Cable estimates that it would cost a
total of approximately $60,000 to install EAS equipment at
each of these systems. Blakely Cable 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, Blakely 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, Blakely Cable notes that its
subscribers currently have access to national EAS messages on
at least 46 percent of all programmed channels. Blakely 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 Blakely Cable, we conclude that a
temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) for one of the
captioned cable systems and a temporary, 36-month waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for five of the captioned cable systems are
warranted.9 In particular, we find that the $60,000 cost of
EAS equipment for these small cable systems could impose a
financial hardship on Blakely 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 Blakely Cable
Television, Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until October 1, 2003 for the cable television
system in Blakely, Georgia and IS GRANTED a waiver of Section
11.11(a) of the Rules until October 1, 2005 for the cable
television systems in Columbia, Alabama; Baconton, Georgia;
Leary, Georgia; Morgan, Georgia and Newton, Georgia.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Blakely Cable Television,
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 Blakely Cable Television, 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 12-month waiver will extend from October 1, 2002 until
October 1, 2003 and 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 ¶ 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.