Every figure on PlainBroadband originates in the FCC's public Form 477 fixed broadband deployment dataset. We pull the aggregated counts from the FCC's open-data API, load them through a documented, version-controlled data pipeline, and render them into provider, state, and technology pages using shared templates. No page is hand-written, and no number is typed in by an editor — each value you see is computed directly from the official source records at request time.

Our editorial team is responsible for the parts a pipeline cannot decide on its own: which dataset to use, how each metric is defined and labeled, how the FCC's technology codes map to plain-language categories, which derived measures (such as a state's fiber share or a provider's record total) are computed and how, and what we will not publish. The pipeline then applies those decisions uniformly across the whole country.

We publish only data that comes from an official government source, and we name it on every page. Our single dataset is:

• FCC Form 477 — Fixed Broadband Deployment Data (June 2020 status): the twice-yearly filing in which every facilities-based broadband provider reports the census blocks where it offers service and the technologies it uses, published via the FCC's open-data portal.

This is the final public Form 477 fixed-deployment release before the FCC moved to its newer Broadband Data Collection (BDC) system. We do not scrape third-party sites, we do not republish proprietary speed-test or rating data, and we do not generate any provider data ourselves. Where a figure is derived from the official data (for example, a state's fiber share), the page links to our methodology, which sets out exactly how it is calculated.

Form 477 is self-reported and is known to overstate reach: a provider may count an entire census block as served even when it serves only part of it. A "deployment record" counts a provider-block-technology combination that a company reports it can serve — it is a measure of reported availability footprint, not subscribers, homes connected, speed delivered, or price. Because national satellite providers can report availability almost everywhere, satellite accounts for the largest share of records even though relatively few households subscribe. We label these limits in context wherever the numbers appear so they are not read as more than they are.

PlainBroadband does not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from internet service providers or any entity we cover. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense. Advertisers have no influence over which providers we list or how their data is presented, and they receive no preferential placement. We publish no subjective quality ratings and take no editorial position on whether a given provider is good or bad; we present the official data and the caveats that come with it.

The figures here reflect the FCC's June 2020 Form 477 status — the last public Form 477 fixed-deployment snapshot. Because that program has been retired, these numbers are a stable historical record rather than a live feed, and we present them as such; we do not re-stamp pages with a "today" date to imply freshness that does not exist. For current, address-level availability, use the FCC's National Broadband Map, which is built from the BDC data that replaced Form 477. The data vintage is named on every data page, on our About page, and in our methodology.

If a figure looks wrong, please tell us. We treat data-error reports as a priority and follow the same process every time:

1. Report. Email hello@plainbroadband.com with the page URL and the figure you are questioning.
2. Verify. We check the value against the official FCC Form 477 source record.
3. Fix at the source. If the figure is wrong on our side — a mislabeled technology code, a wrong derivation — we correct the underlying mapping or rule in the pipeline and regenerate every page it affects, so the same class of error is resolved everywhere at once.
4. Note it. If the figure is correct but reflects a known Form 477 quirk (for example, a satellite provider's nationwide block coverage), we explain the caveat rather than silently changing it.

Some apparent errors trace back to the federal source itself. Because Form 477 is self-reported, a provider's footprint or technology mix may overstate real-world availability at a specific address. When that is the case, we point you to the FCC's records and current National Broadband Map so you can verify directly.

Questions about our standards, methodology, or a specific figure are welcome at hello@plainbroadband.com. For more on what the data covers and how it is processed, see our About page and methodology.