New FCC Broadband Map, version 3

The Federal Communications Commission's new version of the National Broadband Map includes a dramatic decrease in the number of Unserved and Underserved locations. We now have 7.1 million unserved locations and 3.0 million underserved location. The total of 10.1 million locations is a decrease of 16% from the 11.9 million locations that were unserved and underserved six months earlier. As Chairwoman Rosenworcel said in a blog post, I’m sure we’re seeing some of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund projects start to light up. But I also suspect we’re going to find Internet service providers cleaning up their coverage filings, making sure that everything they can serve is filed on the map. After all, soon one of these map versions is going to fund competitors for remaining unserved and underserved locations.