On July 1, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the production version of the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (the Fabric) for internet service providers and government entities. The Fabric will form the foundation for the FCC’s forthcoming national broadband maps that will highlight what locations across the country are served, underserved and unserved by reliable broadband service. All counties are encouraged to register with the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC) system in order to receive the production version of the Fabric data, and align the Fabric data with internal county systems in preparation for broadband deployment forthcoming under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). To register to receive the production Fabric data, please start here.

The FCC is currently undergoing the final stages of the BDC process, which is facilitating more granular data collection on internet connectivity from internet service providers and is intended to report more accurately what areas across the country are served, underserved or unserved by reliable high-speed internet service. The FCC is conducting this work through a private company, CostQuest, that is tasked with developing and releasing the production version of a Fabric that will report all broadband serviceable locations. Broadband serviceable locations that will be represented in the Fabric data are defined by the FCC as any “business or residential location in the United States at which fixed broadband internet access service is, or can be, installed.”

Counties have a vested interest in ensuring the broadband serviceable locations identified by the FCC in the Fabric are accurate and representative of areas that need broadband connectivity. Counties and other government entities will have the ability to conduct a bulk challenge to the FCC’s Fabric data beginning in September, if any remedies are required to ensure the county’s broadband serviceable locations are accurately reflected in the Fabric. On July 7, the FCC published the data specifications for bulk fabric challenge data, which can be found here.

The steps for registering with the FCC’s BDC system and receiving the production Fabric data can be found by following this link. The FCC has also launched an FAQ page for government entities registering to receive Fabric data, as well as a tutorial video for how to use Fabric data once it is received.

NACo has also released a one-pager on the Broadband Data Collection process for counties which can be found here. NACo will continue to monitor national broadband mapping efforts closely and provide additional updates.