It’s universally understood throughout the industry that the broadband data reported by ISPs to the FCC is full of big problems. Some of the problem in the database can be blamed on the FCC, which allows an ISP to claim an entire Census block as having good broadband even if only one customer in the Census block can actually get that faster speed.

However, in looking in detail at counties all over the country, this seems to be a relatively minor part of the overstatement of broadband. For example, the issue crops the in Census blocks near to a town that has cable broadband, and the FCC reporting system usually assumes that some homes past the end of the cable network can get fast broadband. The FCC has proposed to fix this by asking ISPs to draw polygons around customers, and if the ISPs serving towns do that right, this issue would disappear.

The much bigger problem in the FCC database come from ISPs that overstate broadband coverage, broadband speeds, or both.  I’ve seen entire counties where the FCC database claims broadband coverage that doesn’t exist.

Part of this problem is due to a poor interpretation of the FCC rules. A lot of ISPs interpret the FCC rules to  mean they should report the fastest speed they advertise instead of the fastest speed they can deliver. I’ve seen numerous places where the big telcos have claimed 15 Mbps or 25 Mbps download on DSL, when speed tests can’t find anybody in the area getting more than 5 Mbps download. I’ve looked at counties where WISPs claim speeds of 50 Mbps up to 300 Mbps when customers largely have speeds under 10 Mbps.

Even more aggrevating are ISPs that claim broadband coverage that doesn’t exist. For example, I’ve seen WISPs that claim coverage of an entire county when they are only located on one or two towers. But this isn’t done only by fixed wireless providers, and the FCC is finally talking about fining an ISP for faulty reporting.

The FCC is threatening to fine Barrier Communications Corp. from New York that markets under BarrierFree. In 2017 the ISP made big news when they falsely claimed that they were providing fiber broadband to 62 million customers that largely didn’t exist. The FCC went published an annual report to Congress that included the imaginary broadband, which led the agency to crow about the big nationwide improvement in broadband coverage. The FCC got egg on their face when the issue was brought to its attention, and the agency was forced to reissue the annual report to Congress. As part of that process, the FCC warned BarrierFree to cease the overreporting.

Apparently, the ISP is at it again because the FCC is now threatening a fine of $164,000 for BarrierFree for continued overreporting. The FCC says that’s the maximum penalty allowed by law. There were supposedly substantial overreporting in both the September 2019 and March 2020 data. To the best of my knowledge this would be the first fine due against an ISP due to false reporting in the 477 process. The FCC has threatened fines against Verizon and a few other ISPs for falsely reporting rural 4G cellular coverage, but I’m not aware of any fines being levied.

The idea of levying fines against ISPs for blatant broadband overreporting is long overdue. There can be huge consequences when ISPs can freely claim broadband coverage that doesn’t exist. The biggest current consequence of such overreporting is that it can block eligibility for grants. The FCC used the faulty 477 data when determining the areas that are eligible for the $16.4 billion in RDOF grants that will be awarded in October. I know of counties where no RDOF grants are being offered due to the FCC data falsely showing counties to already have adequate broadband. There are many rural counties where at least some portion of the county has been incorrectly excluded from RDOF grant eligibility due to ISP overreporting of broadband speeds and coverage.

I have to believe the FCC when they report this is the biggest penalty allowed by law – but it’s not nearly high enough. How large should a fine be if an ISP keeps tens of millions of grant dollars from coming to a county? That question is even more pointed if the overreporting ISP gains a market advantage by keeping out grant funding. In my mind, if an ISP blatantly overreports broadband and keeps $10 million of grant funding from benefitting a county, then that ISP owes that community $10 million. I’m sure there are ISPs that are glad I’m not an FCC Commissioner.