FCC’s Broadband Mapping Fabric Will Now Drive Other Agency Programs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2025 – The national broadband map that has featured significantly in the deployment of the bipartisan infrastructure law will now be used by the Federal Communications Commission for other agency internet programs.

On Jan. 10, the FCC adopted the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric as the authoritative dataset for calculating broadband deployment obligations and verifying compliance under its high-cost programs, like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

This shift to granular, location-specific data marks the FCC’s first major departure from relying on older data sources like the Connect America Cost Model, introduced in 2012, and Census Bureau data, which often failed to reflect real-world conditions, experts said.

“The decision to rely on the Fabric… is a step towards improving accuracy, oversight, and accountability for the FCC's high-cost support mechanisms,” the release issued by Wireline Competition Bureau chief Trent Harkrader stated.

As of yet, broadband deployment decisions at the FCC had relied on datasets from 2011, based on 2010 Census data and the FCC’s Form 477 reports. Form 477 data came with its own issues – if a provider reported serving just one location within a census block, the entire block was deemed to be "served,” overstating the availability of broadband and leading to systemic issues in funding distribution.

“RDOF suffered from the issue that they used census blocks as the building unit. It's not that census blocks are bad, but census blocks don't recognize network topology… Streets form the boundary of the census blocks, and what you end up with as the result can be the left side of the street is in one census block funded by RDOF, the right side of the street is available [for funding through the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program,” Jim Stegeman, CEO of CostQuest Associates, the firm behind the FCC's new mapping fabric, said during a December event on RDOF’s midway progress. 

Developed under the Broadband DATA Act and updated semiannually by CostQuest Associates, the new mapping fabric will play a pivotal role in the RDOF “true-up” process, or adjustment of agency funds. 

Set for the six-year mark of the program — 2027 for Phase I participants — the process will revisit original deployment obligations using the updated dataset. This could alter location totals, reshaping deployment requirements and potentially impacting providers’ funding levels. With the fabric updated every six months, those numbers could continue to shift over the coming years.

According to Stegeman, RDOF’s initial reliance on census block data – which often split streets into separate funding zones – could lead to a tangled web of eligibility disputes as the updated dataset interacts with BEAD funding allocations, expected to begin rolling out in 2025 and 2026.

Stegeman highlighted how this could impact RDOF providers’ business cases. “If this [side of the street] goes to someone else, they’re going to overbuild this area — likely with fiber,” he explained. “That changes [RDOF providers’] business case, because now the take rate assumption on the left-hand side of the street is highly impacted.”

At the same time, Stegeman noted that BEAD funding could present a vital opportunity for RDOF participants grappling with escalating costs and changing obligations. “This is either an excellent opportunity to look at BEAD as additional funding for the build-out now,” he said. “Or, the bigger threat is, what if this goes to someone else?”

“Make sure you understand BEAD,” Stegeman advised RDOF participants. “Make sure you understand if you do not participate in BEAD, there will be an impact to you potentially.”