Analysis of BDC Service Availability Data from Oct to Nov 2023
What's Changed, Why, and Results
Across the 115.3M Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) in the US, there have been fluctuations in their broadband service availability status as multiple versions of the Fabric and Broadband Data Collection (BDC) data are published. For Version 3 of the Fabric locations and BDC data, some BSLs moved to unserved, underserved, served, and some BSLs were added and dropped due to self and public challenges made to the data.
Below is an analysis of how and why the data changed from October 17, 2023, to 11/17, 2023, along with a high-level look at the most unserved areas across the US as of 11/17/2023.
When we compare 10/17/2023 BDC service availability data to the BDC data as of 11/17/2023, we see the following:
An increase in the number of "served" BSLs
From 102M to over 105M BSLs
A decrease in “unserved" locations
From 8.5M to 7.2M
A slight decrease in "underserved" locations
From 3.6M to 3.0M
What is causing the decrease in "unserved" Broadband Serviceable Locations?
Four primary reasons the BDC data fluctuated in the 11/17/23 BDC data:
New BSLs were added to the Fabric
BSLs were dropped
Unserved BSLs moved to served or underserved
Underserved BSLs moved to served
From the previous 8.5M unserved locations in the 10/17/2023 BDC data to the 7.2M in the 11/17/23 data, there was a total decrease of 1.3M unserved locations.
0.5M were new BSLs
2.6M that were unserved moved to either served, underserved, or dropped from the Fabric
0.4M that were previously served moved to unserved
0.41M that were previously underserved moved to unserved
8.5M + 0.5M – 2.6M + 0.4 + 0.41 = 7.2M unserved locations
A deeper dive into the BDC data fluctuations & results from 10/23 to 11/23
3.0M BSLs were added to Version 3 of the Fabric
Of those new BSLs:
2.4M were reported served
0.5M were reported unserved
0.1M were reported underserved
2.6M BSLs that were unserved:
1.4M moved to served
0.7M moved to underserved
0.6M dropped from the Fabric
2.2M BSLs that were served:
1.5M were dropped from the Fabric
0.4M moved to unserved
0.3M moved to underserved
1.6M BSLs that were underserved:
1.0M moved to served
0.4M moved to unserved
0.2M were dropped
Top 10 states with the highest % of unserved BSLs
*Based on the number of BSLs in each state.
Alaska - 30.6% unserved
West Virginia - 23.2% unserved
Montana - 19.5% unserved
Mississippi - 16.8% unserved
Wyoming - 15.1% unserved
Louisiana - 14.3% unserved
Alabama - 13.6% unserved
Arkansas - 12.9% unserved
Idaho - 12.5% unserved
New Mexico - 11.7% unserved
Top US counties with the highest % of unserved BSLs
*Based on the number of BSLs in each county
Aleutians East, AK - 100% unserved
Aleutians West, AK - 100% unserved
Bethel, AK - 100% unserved
Bristol Bay, AK - 100% unserved
Dillingham, AK - 100% unserved
Kusilvak, AK - 100% unserved
Lake and Peninsula, AK - 100% unserved
Yakutat, AK - 100% unserved
Esmeralda, NV - 99.5% unserved
Echols, GA - 96.2% unserved
White Pine, NV - 96.1% unserved
Crockett, TX - 95.9% unserved
Sterling, TX - 95.3% unserved
Amite, MS - 94.0% unserved
Upton, TX - 92.9% unserved
Sierra, CA - 92.5% unserved
Wheeler, OR - 92.2% unserved
Wilkinson, MS - 90.8% unserved
Top US counties with the most unserved locations
Of the 7.2M total unserved locations from the BDC data pulled 11/17/23, below are the counties showing the highest number of unserved locations.
*Note that high population density plays a role in these counties with the highest count of unserved locations.
San Bernardino, CA - 25,494 unserved
Baldwin, AL - 23,039 unserved
San Diego, CA - 21, 958 unserved
Mohave, AZ - 20,984 unserved
Spokane, WA - 20,773 unserved
St. Louis, MN - 20, 107 unserved
Marion, FL - 20,083 unserved
Kenai Peninsula, AK - 18,833 unserved
Riverside, CA - 17,984 unserved
Navajo, AZ - 17,887 unserved
Top 10 states have the highest number of unserved BSLs
*Note that high population density plays a role in these states with the highest count of unserved locations.
Texas - 628,628 unserved
Virginia - 331,142 unserved
Michigan - 319,084 unserved
California - 296,593 unserved
Alabama - 296,436 unserved
North Carolina - 283,417 unserved
Missouri - 277,376 unserved
Louisiana - 268,491 unserved
Florida - 258,536 unserved
Georgia - 257,336 unserved
Closing thoughts
As new network buildouts, housing structures, and technology updates occur, combined with updated service availability data and data challenges from the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection and CostQuest’s Fabric locations, we will continue to see more fluctuations in the BDC service availability data over time. The future iterations of the data continue to give us a granular look at the Broadband Serviceable Locations that are served, underserved, and unserved and track the progress of expanding broadband coverage across the U.S.
Explore our BDC Availability Reporting Dashboard to dive deeper into the data.
Coverage definitions used in analysis
Served - access to a low-latency Fiber, Cable, Copper, or Licensed Terrestrial Fixed Wireless offering of speeds greater than or equal to 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload, or 100/20 Mbps (download/upload).
Underserved - access to a low-latency Fiber, Cable, Copper, or Licensed Terrestrial Fixed Wireless offering of speeds less than 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload, or 100/20 Mbps (download/upload) but greater than or equal to 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload.
Unserved - without any Terrestrial Broadband Service or with internet service offering speeds below 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) or latency greater than 100 milliseconds.
*For this analysis and data dashboard we don't include unlicensed fixed wireless or satellite technologies when determining coverage status - following NTIA BEAD requirements.
About CostQuest
CostQuest Associates (CQA) has long led the broadband industry in the knowledge of costs, network modeling, planning, economics, valuations, and regulation. CostQuest has now applied its extensive broadband knowledge and its data science expertise to develop the most accurate data to support business decisions and policies related to broadband initiatives. The love of the challenge and commitment to precision makes us who we are. We work to get it right. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, CostQuest has grown to have a team in Seattle, Washington, and a network of experts across the United States.
To learn more about CostQuest Associates, visit our website at www.costquest.com.