Click here for Adobe Acrobat version
Click here for Microsoft Word version
********************************************************
NOTICE
********************************************************
This document was converted from Microsoft Word.
Content from the original version of the document such as
headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers
will not show up in this text version.
All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the
original document will not show up in this text version.
Features of the original document layout such as
columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins
will not be preserved in the text version.
If you need the complete document, download the
Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat version.
*****************************************************************
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
Clearvision Cable Systems, Inc. ) File No. EB-03-TS-069
)
Operator of Cable Systems in: )
)
Beecher City, Illinois )
Cowden, Illinois )
Edgewood, Illinois )
Mulberry Grove, Illinois )
Pocahontas, Illinois )
Pierron, Illinois )
)
Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )
Commission's Rules )
ORDER
Adopted: August 15, 2003 Released: August 19,
2003
By the Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, Enforcement Bureau:
1. In this Order, we grant Clearvision Cable Systems, Inc.
(``Clearvision Cable'') temporary, waivers of Section 11.11(a)
of the Commission's Rules (``Rules'') for the six 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. Clearvision Cable filed a request for temporary, 36-
month waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the six captioned small,
rural cable systems on March 5, 2003. In support of its
waiver request, Clearvision Cable states that these cable
systems were acquired on January 1, 20039 and, together, serve
a total of 268 subscribers. Based on price quotes provided by
EAS equipment manufacturers, Clearvision Cable estimates that
it would cost a total of approximately $45,000 to install EAS
equipment at these systems. Clearvision Cable asserts that
this cost will impose a substantial financial hardship on it
and provides its financial statement for the period ending
February 28, 2003 in support of this assertion. In addition,
Clearvision 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,
Clearvision Cable notes that its subscribers currently have
access to national EAS messages on at least 62 percent of all
programmed channels. Clearvision Cable also 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 Clearvision Cable, we conclude that
temporary waivers of Section 11.11(a) for the six captioned
systems from March 5, 2003 until October 1, 2005 are
warranted.10 In particular, we find that the estimated
$45,000 cost of EAS equipment for these small cable systems
could impose a financial hardship on Clearvision 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.11 Based on comments
from equipment manufacturers, we anticipate that such a
decoder-only system could result in significant cost savings
to small cable systems.12
6. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to Sections
0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311 of the Rules,13 Clearvison Cable
Systems, Inc. IS GRANTED waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the
Rules from March 5, 2003 until October 1, 2005 for the six
captioned cable television systems.
7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Clearvision Cable Systems,
Inc. place a copy of these waivers 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 Clearvision Cable Systems, Inc., Christopher C. Cinnamon,
Esq., Cinnamon Mueller, 307 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1020,
Chicago, Illinois 60601.
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 Id. at 15513.
8 Id. at 15513, n. 59.
9 Clearvision Cable acquired the six systems from Galaxy
American Communications. Commission staff hasd previously
granted Galaxy American temporary, 36-month waivers of the EAS
requirements for four of these systems. See Galaxy American
Communications, L.L.C. d/b/a Cable Direct, 17 FCC Rcd 19366 (Enf.
Bur., Tech. & Public Safety Div., 2002).
10 We clarify that the waivers we are granting also encompass
the EAS testing and monitoring requirements.
11 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).
12 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.
13 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.204(b) and 0.311.