Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 December 5, 2014 DA-14-1775 Tiffany Ebersold Chief Financial Officer CT Communications Network, Inc. 126 Scioto Street Urbana, OH 43078 In re: CT Communications Network CALM Act Waiver Request (dated Sept. 15, 2014) MB Docket No. 11-93 Dear Ms. Ebersold: By this letter, we dismiss the above-referenced streamlined financial hardship waiver request 1 filed pursuant to Section 2(b)(2) of the CALM Act. 2 CT Communications Network, Inc. (“CT Communications”) requested an initial streamlined financial hardship waiver on December 12, 2012, and requested a one-year renewal on October 14, 2013. 3 These requests were deemed granted pursuant to the streamlined financial hardship waiver process established by the CALM Act Report and Order. 4 CT Communications’ current financial hardship waiver expires on December 13, 2014, and it has filed the instant request for another one-year streamlined financial hardship waiver of the effective date of the CALM Act rules. Section 2(b)(2) of the CALM Act provides that the Commission may grant a one-year waiver of the effective date of the rules implementing the statute to any television station or multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) that shows it would be a “financial hardship” to obtain 1 CT Communications Network, Inc., “Request for Financial Hardship Waiver Pursuant to Section 2(b)(2) of the CALM Act,” MB Docket No. 11-93, dated Sept. 15, 2014. 2 47 U.S.C. § 621(b)(2). 3 See MB Docket No. 11-93. 4 The CALM Act Report and Order established a streamlined waiver process for qualifying small television stations and small MVPD systems. Under the streamlined process, a small station or small MVPD system must certify that it (1) meets the definition of “Small TV Station” or “Small MVPD System” and (2) to avoid financial hardship, it needs a delay of one year to obtain the necessary equipment, which it must identify or describe. The station or MVPD may consider the waiver granted when it files this information online and receives an automatic “acknowledgement of request,” unless the Media Bureau notifies the station or MVPD of a problem or question concerning the adequacy of the certification. Implementation of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, MB Docket No. 11-93, Report and Order, 26 FCC Rcd 17222, 17253, ¶ 52 (2011) (CALM Act Report and Order). 2the necessary equipment to comply with the rules, and may renew such waiver for one additional year. 5 By its terms, the statute expressly limits the waiver relief afforded by this provision to cover only two years after the effective date of the CALM Act rules, which was December 13, 2012. 6 Therefore, as previously explained to you in conversations with Staff in October, CT Communications may not seek further waiver relief pursuant to Section 2(b)(2) of the CALM Act because the requested relief is for a period beyond the two years authorized by the statute. As emphasized in the CALM Act Second Report and Order released June 4, 2014 in this docket, “all regulated entities with existing financial hardship waivers must comply with the CALM Act rules when their financial hardship waivers expire.” 7 Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the above-referenced financial hardship waiver request IS DISMISSED. This action is taken under delegated authority pursuant to Section 0.283 of the Commission’s rules. 8 Sincerely, Mary Beth Murphy Chief, Policy Division Media Bureau 5 47 U.S.C. § 621(b)(2). 6 See 47 C.F.R. §§ 73.682(e)(1), 76.607(a)(1). 7 Implementation of the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, MB Docket No. 11-93, Second Report and Order, 29 FCC Rcd. 6294, ¶ 7(2014) (CALM Act Second Report and Order). The CALM Act Second Report and Order explained that “[s]tations and MVPDs that obtained an initial financial hardship waiver were afforded until December 13, 2013 to comply with the CALM Act rules, and those that renewed their financial hardship waiver have until December 13, 2014 to comply with the CALM Act rules.” Id. 8 47 C.F.R. § 0.283.