High-speed, high-quality internet service is essential for participation in modern life. The FCC has a new map showing where internet service is – and is not – available across the country, down to the location level.
As part of the FCC’s Broadband Data Collection, internet service providers report where they make internet services available. The FCC reviews the data and then publishes it on the National Broadband Map. You can easily dispute, or challenge, information shown on the map that you believe is inaccurate. An accurate map helps identify the unserved and underserved communities most in need of funding for high-speed internet infrastructure investments.
National Broadband Map
Find Out What Internet Services Are Available in Your Area
Search for your address on the map. If you don’t have an address, you can enter a town name and state, or select “Location” underneath the search bar on the home page. The map allows you to pan and zoom to find a particular location.
- Individual location points appear on the map if you search for a location or as you zoom in. These points identify buildings or structures – such as a home, apartment building, or small business – where internet services are, or could be, available.
- The Fixed Broadband Map shows the fiber, cable, DSL, satellite, or fixed wireless internet services available at each home or small business on the map. When you select a point on the map, you can see which providers report offering broadband service at that location, along with the types of service or technologies and the maximum advertised download and upload speeds they offer.
- The Mobile Broadband Map shows the 3G, 4G, and 5G coverage of each mobile provider for the area displayed. The coverage areas represent where mobile users can get a connection when outdoors or in a moving vehicle, but not indoors. The map allows you to compare mobile wireless coverage reported by different mobile providers.
Learn more about how to use the map and what’s on the National Broadband Map.
Help Improve the Map
If you think the map is incorrect or incomplete, you can submit a challenge to the FCC to correct it.
Challenging Internet Availability at Your Home or Another Location
If the information about the internet services available at your home, small business, or other location is incorrect, you can dispute it by clicking on the Availability Challenge link on the right side of the map and submitting the form.
Availability Challenges can correct the information on the map about the services reported by ISPs as being available.
Challenges can be based on several reasons, including that the provider denied a request for service, demanded excessive connection fees, or failed to schedule an installation within 10 business days of a request.
Once a challenge is filed, providers are required to review the challenge and either concede or dispute it. The provider is expected to communicate and work directly with you to resolve any challenges that it does not initially concede. If a provider either concedes a challenge or fails to rebut it, the challenged services will no longer show as available for that location on the FCC’s maps. If a provider disputes a challenge, then the FCC will decide the challenge. If decided in your favor, then the service provider must update its information so that the location is not shown as served by the provider on the FCC’s maps.
Learn how to submit an Availability Challenge.
Challenging Locations
If your location is missing or inaccurately reflected on the map, you may submit a Location Challenge to correct or add the location. The link to correct information on an existing location is to the right of the address on the map. You can add a location by clicking on the place on the map where the location should be and then clicking the “Challenge Location” button.
Location Challenges can:
- Add a missing location.
- Correct the address or other details of your location.
- Correct the geographic placement of your location.
Once a Location Challenge is submitted, it will be reviewed by the FCC and either accepted or denied. Accepted challenges will be reflected in future versions of the location points shown on the map.
Learn how to submit a Location Challenge.
Download the FCC Mobile Speed Test App
Challenging Mobile Broadband Coverage in Your Area
If you believe the information on mobile coverage submitted by your provider is incorrect, you can dispute that information by taking outdoor (or in-vehicle) speed tests on your mobile phone with the FCC Mobile Speed Test App.
The FCC Mobile Speed Test App is available in the Google Play Store for Android devices, and in the Apple App Store for iOS devices. Search for "FCC Speed Test" to find and download the App.
A Challenge Speed Test can be performed to contribute to challenges of a mobile provider’s 3G, 4G, or 5G coverage areas as shown on the map.
Challenge Speed Test results submitted to the FCC are grouped together and, if a pattern of discrepancies emerges in a geographic area, they are shared with the provider for response. To dispute a challenge, the Commission requires providers to submit on-the-ground performance data (or, in certain limited circumstances, data about the service provider’s network), so that the FCC can resolve the challenge.
Learn how to use the FCC Mobile Speed Test App to submit Mobile Challenges.