Frequently Asked Questions

PlainBroadband uses data from the FCC Form 477 broadband deployment dataset. This is the official federal data collection program that required facilities-based broadband providers in the U.S. to report where they offer service. Our current corpus covers 2,138 providers across 56 states and territories.

These figures reflect the FCC's final Form 477 fixed broadband deployment release (June 2020 status). The FCC retired that fixed-deployment collection afterward and moved to the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) system, so this corpus is a stable historical snapshot rather than a live feed. For current, address-level availability, use the FCC National Broadband Map.

Yes, PlainBroadband is completely free. All our data comes from publicly available FCC records. We don't require registration, subscriptions, or payment.

Our data comes directly from the FCC with no modifications. However, FCC Form 477 data has known limitations: providers may overstate coverage at the census block level, and speeds are maximum advertised speeds rather than measured speeds. The FCC has since moved to a more granular Broadband Data Collection system. For the most current data, check the FCC National Broadband Map.

Records represent individual broadband deployment filings by providers at the census block level. One record typically means one provider offers one technology type in one census block. A provider serving 1,000 blocks with cable internet would have 1,000 records. Record counts are not subscriber counts, they measure the breadth of a provider's coverage footprint.

PlainBroadband shows data at the state and provider level. For address-specific availability, use the FCC Broadband Map at broadbandmap.fcc.gov or check directly with providers. Our state pages can help you identify which providers operate in your area.

Fiber uses light through glass strands for the fastest speeds (1-10 Gbps). Cable uses coaxial TV cable for solid speeds (100 Mbps-1 Gbps) but with slower uploads. DSL uses copper phone lines with speeds up to about 100 Mbps. See our technology comparison guide for a detailed breakdown.

Satellite accounts for 32,267,766 FCC deployment records (53.2% of the corpus) because providers in this category can report availability across large geographic areas (many census blocks) without running physical cable to each location. This does not mean satellite has the most subscribers, it means these providers have filed the most coverage claims with the FCC in this Form 477 snapshot.