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Politics
FCC Form 477
The FCC is requiring WISPs to file data on their number
of subscribers twice each year.
[Ed. note: Form 477 is available in Micsoft
Excel and .pdf format. However, the drop down boxes only work in the
Excel format, so you will need a copy of Microsoft Excel to fill out the
form properly.
The form is due at the FCC twice each year, on March
1 and September 1. The form submitted on March 1 should contain ISP data
as of December 31 of the previous year, and the form submitted on September
1 should contain ISP data as of June 30 of the same year.
Although there is no penalty to any WISP for not
filing, the data will be used by the FCC to determine the size (i.e.,
the importance) of the WISP industry, including its role in rural areas,
where the FCC is trying to accelerate the deployment of broadband.
The following is the text that Kris Twomey posted
to both our ISP-Wireless list and the WISPA FCC list.]
Yes, WISPs must fill out Form 477. Here is the link to the instructions
for the form: http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form477/477instr.pdf
In that form, the relevant part is below. And as an aside, sheesh, everybody
should try to be a little nicer to each other. And that's coming from
a lawyer even...
Quoting from the form itself:
Facilities-based Providers of Broadband Connections
to End User Locations:
Entities that are facilities-based providers of broadband
connectionswhich, for purposes of this information collection,
are wired "lines" or wireless "channels" that enable the end user to
receive information from and/or send information to the Internet at
information transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one directionmust
complete and file the applicable portions of this form for each state
in which the entity provides one or more such connections to end user
locations.
For the purposes of Form 477, an entity is a "facilities-based"
provider of broadband connections to end user locations if it owns the
portion of the physical facility that terminates at the end user location,
if it obtains unbundled network elements (UNEs), special access lines,
or other leased facilities that terminate at the end user location and
provisions/equips them as broadband, or if it provisions/equips a broadband
wireless channel to the end user location over licensed or unlicensed
spectrum. Such entities include incumbent and competitive local exchange
carriers (LECs), cable system operators, fixed wireless service providers
(including "wireless ISPs"), terrestrial and satellite mobile wireless
service providers, MMDS providers, electric utilities, municipalities,
and other entities.
(Such entities do not include equipment suppliers
unless the equipment supplier uses the equipment to provision a broadband
connection that it offers to the public for sale. Such entities also
do not include providers of fixed wireless services (e.g., "Wi-Fi" and
other wireless Ethernet or wireless local area network applications)
that only enable local distribution and sharing of a premises broadband
facility.)
For such entities, the applicable portions of the
form are: 1) the Cover Page; 2) Part I; 3) Part IV (if necessary); and
the relevant portion(s) of Part V.
Twomey remarks:
The whole point of Form 477 is to help the FCC get a statistical sense
of the market, which includes WISPs. Besides, FCC employees have directly
told all of us that WISPs are supposed to fill out 477.
Quoting from the FCC
Form 477 FAQ:
8. Are Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs)
exempt?
No. Entities that provide broadband connections to
end user locations by using spectrum on an unlicensed basis for the
"last hop" to the end user location must report information about those
connections. Typically, this is done by completing the questions for
broadband category 7 ("terrestrial fixed wireless") in Part I of the
form and also filling in column (f) in Part V of the form.
(If broadband connections are reported in another
technology category, such as "terrestrial mobile wireless," please put
a brief explanatory note into Part IV of the form.)
A WISP should consider the user data rate (as opposed
to the over-the-air raw data rate, for example) when determining whether
connections are broadband for purposes of Form 477.
(A broadband connection enables the end user to receive
information from and/or send information to the Internet at information
transfer rates exceeding 200 kbps in at least one direction. See also
FAQ #5 [which defines the terms "broadband" and "facilities-based entity"
for the purposes of Form 477.)
A WISP should not report subscribers to its broadband
Internet-access service when that service is delivered over a broadband
connection to the end user location that the WISP, or the WISP's customer,
has obtained from an unaffiliated entity such as a municipality, public
utility district, or DSL service provider ("DSL wholesaler.") The underlying,
facilities-based providers of wired broadband connections to end user
locations are responsible for reporting them, and any particular broadband
connection should be reported only once in this data collection. See
also FAQ #10 [in which the FCC explains it's only interested in facilities-based
providers].
Part II and Part III of Form 477which are the
parts of the form where information about local telephone service is
collectedmay not apply to particular WISPs:
- Only WISPs that are authorized (by the WISP's state
telecommunications regulator) to operate as a CLEC need to consider
Part II of the form, and they should also see FAQ #13 [explaining
why it is not collecting data on VoIP at this time].
- Only WISPs that offer mobile telephone service
as commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers need to consider
Part III of the form. Note that CMRS providers typically hold or operate
spectrum licenses for cellular, PCS, or SMR services.
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