Fixed Voice Subscription Data (FVS) refers to the count of subscriptions to the fixed service provider’s voice service offerings by census tract.
FVS Data can be submitted using one of two methods:
- By entering the FVS Data row-by-row at the tract level within the “Data Entry” tab, which is located at the top of the FVS page, next to the “Upload Files” tab
OR
- By uploading a valid file in Comma Separated Value (CSV) format that contains the following 4 required fields:
|
Field |
Header |
Data Type {number of characters} |
Example |
Description / Notes |
|
Tract Code |
tract |
Text {11} |
11001006202 |
11-digit 2020 census tract code – must be 11 digits! Filers should also ensure that the tract code is stored as text rather than as a numeric value (otherwise, any leading zeros in the tract code will be dropped). |
|
Service Type |
service_type |
Integer {1} |
0 |
A code indicating the type of service counted in each record: 0=VGE lines (for local exchange services) or 1=VoIP subscriptions (for interconnected VoIP services). - Value must be one of the following codes: 0 – Voice-grade Equivalent Line 1 – Interconnected Voice over IP (VoIP) |
|
Total VGE lines or VoIP Subscriptions |
total_lines_or_subscriptions |
Integer |
100 |
The number of voice-grade equivalent lines and voice-grade equivalent wireless channels in service (if Service Type = 0) OR the number of VoIP subscriptions (if Service Type = 1) provided in the census tract. |
|
Consumer VGE Lines or VoIP Subscriptions |
consumer_lines_or_subscriptions |
Integer |
57 |
The number of voice-grade equivalent lines and voice-grade equivalent wireless channels in service (if Service Type=0), OR the number of VoIP subscriptions (if Service Type=1) provided in consumer-grade service plans in the census tract. A consumer service plan (or Mass market / consumer service plan) is a service plan designed for, marketed to, or purchased by primarily residential end users. |
Note: For more information on how to assign connections to census tracts and how to count VGE lines and VoIP subscriptions, see Fixed Voice Subscribership Terms.
f we were to place the values in the “Example” column from the table above into a comma separated format for upload, they would make a single data row (record) like this:
1101006202,0,100,57
The data row above can be translated as saying that at the time of the “as of” date for the filing, in tract 1101006202, the filer had a total of 100 VGE lines in service, of which, 57 were provided in consumer-grade service plans.
Rows must be unique by tract and service type.
Do not include a row for which the total number of total VGE lines or VoIP subscriptions is ZERO, that is, no actual voice subscribers in a particular combination of tract and service type, even if there is deployed infrastructure to support them.
An Example
Say that your company has both consumer and business voice customers and that your residential and single-line business customers are served via traditional Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) format/circuit-switched local exchange telephone service lines, while you’ve recently switched your business customers over to a VoIP solution.
So, in this example, the circuit-switched lines are easy to count: one per subscription. To simplify things, let’s assume that your pricing structure for business VoIP is a fixed cost plus a marginal cost for each additional user that can be placing calls to the public switched telephone network at the same time. In this case, counting VoIP subscriptions for the BDC can be accomplished by just counting users.
Now, let’s say that after geocoding your service addresses, you find that your company has connections in service in 3 tracts: 51179010404, 51179010405, and 51179010406. Summing connections by tract and service type, you find the following:
|
Tract Code |
Service Type |
VGE Lines / VoIP Subscriptions |
Consumer VGE Lines / VoIP Subscriptions |
|
51179010404 |
VoIP |
201 |
0 |
|
51179010404 |
VGE lines |
322 |
322 |
|
51179010405 |
VoIP |
32 |
0 |
|
51179010405 |
VGE lines |
2 |
2 |
|
51179010406 |
VoIP |
5 |
0 |
|
51179010406 |
VGE lines |
45 |
45 |
If you really had service in 3 tracts, it might be reasonable to input these data interactively. Nonetheless, uploading a file will work just as well. To prepare the data for upload, convert the words describing the service type to a 0 or 1 indicator where 0 represents VGE lines and 1 represents VoIP subscriptions:
|
Tract Code |
Service Type |
VGE Lines / VoIP Subscriptions |
Consumer VGE Lines / VoIP Subscriptions |
|
51179010404 |
1 |
201 |
0 |
|
51179010404 |
0 |
322 |
322 |
|
51179010405 |
1 |
32 |
0 |
|
51179010405 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
51179010406 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
|
51179010406 |
0 |
45 |
45 |
Then save the data as a comma separated values (CSV) file. When opened in a text editor like NotePad, the file should look like this:
Additional Resources
Fixed Voice Subscription Data (Tract-level)