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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Golden West Cablevision, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-647
)
Operator of Cable System in: )
)
Wall, South Dakota )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: July 21, 2003 Released: July 23, 2003
By the Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Golden West Cablevision, Inc.
(``GWC'') a temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the
Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the above-captioned cable
television system. 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
3. GWC filed a request for a temporary, 45-day waiver of
Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable system on October 1,
2002. In support of its waiver request, GWC states that it
installed EAS equipment for the captioned cable system which
serves 12 small, rural communities with a total of
approximately 2,118 subscribers. In addition to the
programming the twelve communities receive from the Wall
headend, eight of those communities have implemented a local
school channel. GWC states that it installed EAS equipment at
the Wall headend and also installed remote hub equipment in
the eight communities with a local school channel in order to
override the local school programming when GWC transmits an
EAS alert on its system. GWC further states that after
installing the remote hubs, it found that demodulators were
needed for the remote hubs to function properly. Based on
information provided by its vendor, GWC expects the
demodulators will be shipped on October 15, 2002. GWC asserts
that subscribers in the eight communities can receive EAS
alerts on all programming channels except the local school
channels. GWC believes it can bring the system's local school
channels into EAS compliance within 45 days.
4. Based upon our review of the information submitted by
GWC, we conclude that a temporary waiver of Section 11.11(a)
for the captioned cable system is warranted.7
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,8 Golden West
Cablevision, Inc. IS GRANTED a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of
the Rules until November 15, 2002 for the captioned cable
television system.
6. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Golden West Cablevision,
Inc. place a copy of this waiver in its system file.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall
be sent by Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to counsel
for Golden West Cablevision, Inc., John A Prendergast, Esq.,
Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, 2120 L
Street, N.W., Suite 520, Washington, D.C. 20037.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Joseph P. Casey
Chief, Spectrum Enforcement 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 The waiver will extend from October 1, 2002, until November
15, 2002. We clarify that the waiver we are granting also
encompasses the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
8 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.