Home Owners Association Overview

In case your Home Owners Association (HOA) has any concerns about the equipment for your new service, we are providing you with the following summary of action taken by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on October 12, 2000. This action clarifies a resident's rights to install the necessary equipment to receive transmissions such as the Sprint Broadband DirectSM service.

According to the FCC:

• Residents are allowed to install an MMDS receiver provided that the receiver is one meter (approximately 39 inches or less in diameter. As illustrated above, the MMDS stationary digital transceiver that Sprint currently uses is diamond shaped and approximately 13.5" X 13.5" in size . about the size of a small pizza box.
• Masts on antennas that extend 12 feet or less beyond the roofline cannot be restricted. A permit may be obtained for masts that extend more than 12 feet above the roofline. (The FCC believes that masts that extend more than 12 feet past the roofline may pose a safety risk.)
• Home Owner Associations that restrict the placement of outdoor communications antennas for "aesthetic" reasons may be in violation of the new FCC regulations (unless the building or area is designated as a National Historic Site).
• Residential and commercial tenants have the right to place satellite dishes as large as a bicycle wheel on a balcony or other area they occupy to receive data transmissions from providers such as Sprint Broadband DirectSM..
• While a previous FCC rule barred landlords and homeowner groups from preventing the installation of similar dishes for video services, the October 12, 2000 ruling extends the umbrella of protection to data services as well.

For more detailed information on this ruling, please visit http://www.fcc.gov/csb/facts/otard.html