USTelecom Broadband Map Pilot: Up to 38% of “Served” Rural Locations Actually Lack Broadband

As much as 38 percent of rural locations in census blocks reported to have broadband available to them may actually lack broadband, according to USTelecom. The organization, which represents broadband providers, undertook a pilot test earlier in 2019 aimed at addressing problems with Federal Communications Commission broadband availability data as depicted on the National Broadband Map. The results of the USTelecom broadband map pilot have now been filed with the FCC. 

The USTelecom pilot focused on two states – MO and VA -- where USTeelecom created a "fabric". They started with geocoded locations of homes and businesses, and onto that the company overlaid polygons -- also known as “shape files” -- showing where service providers offer broadband. Using all this information, CostQuest and USTelecom were able to create maps showing the exact location of homes and businesses in a census block, with locations color coded to indicate whether broadband is available to them. The pilot found that as much as 38% of rural locations reported to be served are instead unserved, though it may be on the high side because certain cable companies did not participate in the pilot. Other key findings from the USTelecom broadband map pilot:

• 48% of rural census block fabric location counts don’t match currently used estimates of location counts
• 23% of rural pilot locations were not geocoded to the correct census blocks
• 61% of current geocoded locations for customer addresses do not correspond with the buildings that would need to be served at those addresses