Certified Systems for "Newbies"

Is a client install on a multi-point distribution system bound by the point to multi-point or point to point rules?

Publication Number: 382017

First Category: Administrative Requirements
Second Category: Measurement Procedures
Third Category:

Question: Point to Point definition and gain INQUIRY: BR> I was perusing the OET interpretation letters last week and came across a couple of letters devoted to point to point and point to multipoint systems operating under 15.247. Reading over these comments brought up a question about definitions that I''d like to address to you. BR> Assume a common scenario where a system qualified under 15.247 has a single access point radio communicating with many remote users spaced 360 degrees around it. During downlink, the AP simultaneously transmits to all of the remote units. During uplink, each remote in turn communicates back to the AP. The access point uses an omnidirectional antenna. Each remote uses a directional antenna aimed back at the AP. BR> The 15.247 rules obviously prohibit the use of the 3 for 1 gain antenna rule for the Access Point. That much is clear given the rule''s definition of multipoint. However, does that restriction apply to the remotes with their directional antennas? The uplink portion of the link from remote to AP is clearly point to point. It would seem that the 3 for 1 rule would apply here. Is this true? BR> RESPONSE: BR> The reverse link Remote terminal station may operate as a fixed point to point system even when the forward link Central station operates as a point to multipoint system. 20020326-003

Answer: The reverse link Remote terminal station may operate as a fixed point to point system even when the forward link Central station operates as a point to multipoint system. 20020326-003

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.)

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.

Part II and Part III of Form 477 – which are the parts of the form where information about local telephone service is collected – may 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.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions about FCC Form 477