Data & Mapping

Billions of dollars are up for grabs to expand broadband availability across the country. But the Federal Communication Commission maps that will determine where the money goes are inaccurate, according to the Texas comptroller, because internet service providers inflated their coverage areas. The Texas office charged with challenging and improving those maps at the state level says it can’t.

More fiber was deployed in 2022 than ever before. Research performed by RVA LLC Market Research & Consulting (RVA) shows that fiber providers passed 7.9 million additional homes in the US in 2022—the highest annual deployment ever, even with challenges in the materials supply chain and labor availability. According to RVA, there are now a total of 68 million fiber broadband passings in the US, up 13% over the past 12 months and up 27% over the past 24 months. Excluding homes with two or more fiber passings, 63 million unique homes have now been passed.

I suspect that there are already a lot of communities and other folks who are in violation of the license agreement to view and use the new Federal Communications Commission mapping fabric and associated data. CostQuest, the firm that created the mapping fabric, has provided communities and others with a basic license to view and utilize the mapping data strictly for the purpose of the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) process – for reviewing and challenging the FCC maps. Anybody that wants to use the mapping data for any other purpose must sign a different agreement and pay to utilize the da

In November 2022, the Federal Communications Commission released our pre-production draft of its new broadband maps. For the first time ever, the maps reflect broadband availability at the physical location level. In fact, prior FCC maps only provided this information at the census-block level. That means these new maps provide the best picture available to date of where broadband is and is not available across the country, and the maps will only get better over time as the FCC gets input from stakeholders across the country.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Illinois received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Indiana received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Vermont received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Oklahoma received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Broadband Connectivity Index (BCI) measures overall internet connectivity and compares it across areas. The BCI uses principal components analysis of the availability of internet service, how many people have internet service at home, and the speed of internet service. The BCI is adjusted to range from zero (worst) to one (best), by county.

There is a mountain of complaints to be made about the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map. In some parts of the country, there are a lot of missing rural locations, including entire subdivisions. Close analysis of the map shows what folks in the broadband world have always known, but were unable to prove, that the big cable companies and telcos don’t cover everybody. It is these unserved folks in the middle of cities that I call the hidden unserved locations. These little pockets came about for a variety of reasons.