| FCC 477 / Concepts | |
The FCC requires providers of broadband internet, local telephone service, mobile wireless, and VoIP to report on their services and coverage semi-annually. BillMax generates FCC 477 report data for broadband internet and VoIP providers only.
The FCC 477 reports asks for two datasets. "Broadband subscription" refers to locations and service attributes for services subject to FCC broadband reporting. There are some speed minimum but other than that your wireless, fiber, dsl, etc. services apply. These are services provided by you and not services being resold, "Broadband deployment" refers to where you can currently provide broadband service and what type of service.
In order for BillMax to have the pertinent location data, it uses the service location - the address on the user of the service. The location data consists of the latitude and longitude as well as census tract. BillMax has a built-in service for generating this information from a valid address or the latitude and longitude (if known). A special license is required for this functionality.
On each service or package definition there is a FCC Classification section. This section records the service attributes and speeds needed.
The data that specifies the deployment in BillMax comes from Access Points in BillMax 2020 and beyond. For wireless, POP Regions represents towers. Technology and coverage are now indicated on Access Points. For each POP Region there is a section for location information and each Access Point has deployment and speed information. Together these parameters tell us something about the coverage and type of service.
After the data has been entered and verified above, there are still several steps needed to generate the report data. There are tools to help give confirmation and visibility to the data needed. BillMax will validate the data entered and issue errors for any missing items. BillMax will show you the Access Points on a map so that the coverage generated can be checked to extend beyond all Service locations. A list of counties that you offer service must be provided to BillMax Support. BillMax Support will load the counties and then the Census block data will be merged with the coverage. After all data is validated and no errors remain, the FCC 477 data sets will be generated so that they can be uploaded to the FCC web site.