FCC’s New Broadband Fabric Now Governs High-Cost Program Oversight
States, ISPs still struggling to challenge its accuracy
Jericho Casper
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2025 – A key federal dataset used to track broadband access in the U.S. took effect Friday, now serving as the baseline for oversight of billions in federal broadband funding.
The Federal Communications Commission’s updated broadband location dataset, known as the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, will now serve as the official reference point for verifying deployment obligations under programs like the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, Alternative Connect America Cost Model, and broadband efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“The Fabric remains the most accurate picture of BSLs the Bureau has available to date,” the Wireline Competition Bureau said in its final order adopted January 10, with the Fabric taking effect on April 4. “Delaying the Bureau's alignment of high-cost funding support with Fabric locations is not in the public interest.. it would risk delaying deployments, leaving locations unconnected, and increase the potential for duplicative funding.”
The data sources used to identify the locations in the Fabric include a mix of aerial and satellite imagery, address databases, land and local tax records, and other sources. The FCC contracted CostQuest Associates to update the Fabric every six months in accordance with the Broadband DATA Act of 2020.
To improve the dataset’s accuracy, the FCC allows governmental entities, providers, and third parties to file challenges to correct or add location data. But some stakeholders say the system isn’t functioning as intended.
Since the Fabric’s launch, the Wireline Competition Bureau has received over 2 million location challenges. Many of those, the FCC said, sought to add locations that were already included as BSLs in the dataset.
“Some commenters have provided anecdotal examples of unsuccessful challenges that they suggest show the challenge process needs improvement,” the Bureau wrote. “The Bureau disagrees.”
The FCC noted that many of the submissions did not meet the criteria for a BSL or attempted to add existing locations.
One such example came from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which said a member cooperative submitted a challenge identifying approximately 5,000 new locations. According to the FCC, only about 700 of those locations were accepted by CostQuest as valid BSLs.
But some of the most significant hurdles have come from states. In preparation for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, states have been developing their own broadband maps — often relying on different vendors, methodologies, and community outreach — which some have been able to use to submit bulk location challenges to the FCC.
As Broadband Breakfast previously reported, Georgia found more than 220,000 missing locations, particularly in rural, tribal, and newly developed areas. Meanwhile, New Hampshire broadband manager Matt Conserva continues to report “significant issues” with the FCC’s maps, saying his office has found BSLs “60 miles away” from their actual location.
But, several states have skipped availability challenges altogether due to limited staff or legal risk in submitting third-party data. Montana and Texas couldn’t submit challenge data because doing so would violate contracts with third-party mapping vendors like LightBox.
A survey of broadband providers conducted during the FCC’s inaugural Broadband Data Collection filing found that many ISPs struggled to match their serviceable locations with the FCC’s dataset, citing difficulties with address matching and inaccuracies in the Fabric itself.
