FCC Investigates Massive Error Inflating Broadband Deployment by Millions
The FCC investigates a massive reporting error that falsely claims broadband availability for 62 million people. A small ISP mistakenly submits every census block in eight states as its coverage area.
The FCC investigates a massive reporting error that falsely inflates the nation's broadband deployment numbers by tens of millions of people. Advocacy group Free Press discovers that a small internet service provider called BarrierFree claims to provide high-speed fiber and fixed wireless service to nearly 62 million people across eight states. This single error severely skews the official data that Chairman Ajit Pai previously uses to boast about broadband progress.
BarrierFree submits this wildly inaccurate data through the FCC's Form 477, a self-reporting system that relies heavily on the honor system. Instead of reporting its actual service areas, the company simply lists every single census block in Connecticut, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia. This absurd claim effectively makes the tiny provider look like the fourth largest ISP in the United States by population coverage.
Critics point out that this glaring mistake highlights the deep flaws in the FCC's current data collection methods. Free Press notes that BarrierFree claims to offer exact speed tiers that uniquely match Verizon's FiOS fiber service, raising further doubts about the legitimacy of the filing. The advocacy group already challenges the administration over its questionable economic claims regarding net neutrality, and now pushes back against these unreliable deployment statistics that guide national internet policy.