**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, D.C. 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Complete Communication Services ) File No. EB-02-TS-307

)

Operator of Cable Systems in: )

)

State Center, Iowa )

Stratford, Iowa )

Roland, Iowa )

)

Request for Waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the )

Commission's Rules )

## ORDER 

**Adopted: January 31, 2003 Released: February 5, 2003**

By the Chief, Technical and Public Safety Division, Enforcement Bureau:

1.  In this *Order*, we grant Complete Communication Services ("CCS") a
    temporary, 12-month waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Commission's
    Rules ("Rules") for the cable television system in Stratford, Iowa
    and temporary, 36-month waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules for
    the cable television systems in State Center and Roland, Iowa.
    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.  CCS filed a request for a permanent or five-year waiver of Section
    11.11(a) for the three captioned cable system on July 11, 2002. In
    support of its waiver request, CCS states that these are small,
    rural cable systems serving between 226 and 1,237 subscribers. Based
    on price quotes provided by EAS equipment manufacturers, CCS
    estimates that it would cost between \$21,000 and 30,000 to install
    EAS equipment at these cable systems. CCS asserts that this cost
    will impose a substantial financial hardship on it and provides
    financial data for 2000 and 2001 in support of this assertion. In
    addition, CCS submits that its subscribers will continue to have
    ready access to national EAS information from other sources,
    including its cable systems. In this regard, CCS notes that its
    subscribers currently have access to national EAS messages on 64% of
    all programmed channels. CCS also asserts 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 CCS, we find that a permanent or five-year waiver of
    Section 11.11(a) for the captioned cable systems is not warranted.
    However, we conclude that a temporary, 12-month waiver of Section
    11.11(a) for one cable system and temporary, 36-month waivers of
    Section 11.11(a) for two cable systems are warranted.[^9] In
    particular, we find that the estimated \$21,000 plus cost of EAS
    equipment for these small cable systems could impose a financial
    hardship on CCS.

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] Complete Communication Systems
    **IS GRANTED** a waiver of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until
    October 1, 2003 for the Stratford, Iowa cable television system and
    **IS GRANTED** waivers of Section 11.11(a) of the Rules until
    October 1, 2005 for the State Center and Roland, Iowa cable
    television systems.

7.  **IT IS FURTHER ORDERED** that Complete Communication Systems 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 Randall Baker, General
    Manager, Complete Communication Services, Post Office Box 438, 1001
    Tennyson, Stratford, Iowa 50249.

    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 waiver will extend from October 1,
    2002 until October 1, 2005. Additionally, 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.