High-speed broadband is essential for participation in modern American life. The first step to connecting everyone, everywhere is collecting accurate information about where broadband service is and is not available. The FCC’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC) will provide iterative, location-by-location maps of broadband availability nationwide.
The Fabric is a common dataset of all locations (or structures) in the U.S. where fixed broadband internet access service is or can be installed. All of these Broadband Serviceable Locations appear as points on the FCC’s National Broadband Map. Governments, Tribes, consumers, and other third parties, including providers, will be able to challenge and improve the accuracy of the locations included on the map.
Bulk Challenges
Governmental entities, service providers, and other third parties, may submit bulk challenges to the Fabric to help identify missing and incorrect locations. Challengers can take several steps to prepare for the bulk Fabric challenge process:
- Execute a free license agreement for access to the Fabric data.
- Watch the Fabric tutorial video to learn more about the Fabric and how to work with the data.
- Review the Public Notice announcing the bulk Fabric challenge data specification and explaining the FCC’s methodology for identifying structures as Broadband Serviceable Locations.
- Develop a strategy for reviewing and validating the Fabric data for their geographic area.
- Align their data with the requirements set out in the Fabric bulk challenge data specification.
Challengers should submit their Fabric challenge data as early as possible to help ensure that the results of those challenges can be incorporated into the next version of the Fabric data to be released in advance of the next biannual BDC filing window.
Individual Fabric Location Challenges
Individual challenges to a location on the map can be submitted directly from the online map at BroadbandMap.FCC.gov. These challenges can include:
- A location that meets the Commission’s definition of a Broadband Serviceable Location is missing from the Fabric.
- A location's broadband serviceability is incorrectly identified.
- Information such as the address or unit count for the location is incorrect.
- The location's placement - its geographic coordinates - is incorrect.
- Consumers may use this method to submit challenges for their own residences or small businesses.
Challenges to broadband availability data will be accepted through a separate process after the Broadband Map is published.
Here is a video tutorial on the bulk fabric challenge process:
