Abstract: A base station power control for dynamically introducing transmission power to compensate for rain fade in a broadband wireless system operating at millimeter wave frequencies. The base station periodically polls a selected network interface unit at a customer site to obtain status information such as the power level of the received signal. Variations in the power level of the received signal, indicative of variations in the attenuation of the wireless link, are used by the base station power controller to appropriately adjust transmission power. Status information collected by the base station can also include signal to noise level data and the bit error rate.