Tools

9 tools for working with FCC broadband data — block-level availability, geography-level coverage analysis, provider search, and BDC bulk download manifests:

fcc_geocode_block

Convert geographic coordinates to a census block FIPS code for broadband availability lookups.

• Calls the FCC Geo API — no auth required, no rate limit documented
• Returns 15-digit block FIPS, its census vintage, 5-digit county FIPS, county name, state FIPS, 2-letter state code, and state name
• Resolves against 2010 census boundaries — the vintage the Form 477 deployment dataset is keyed by, so the block feeds fcc_search_availability directly
• Required first step before fcc_search_availability — the broadband deployment dataset is indexed by census block, not address

fcc_search_availability

Query which ISPs serve a specific census block and what speeds they advertise.

• Requires a 15-digit census block FIPS on 2010 boundaries; use fcc_geocode_block to convert coordinates first
• Filter by any Form 477 technology code — 0 (all other), 10/11/12 (asymmetric xDSL, ADSL2, VDSL), 20 (symmetric xDSL), 30 (other copper wireline), 40–43 (cable modem, unqualified through DOCSIS 3.1), 50 (fiber to the end user), 60 (satellite), 70 (terrestrial fixed wireless), 90 (electric power line)
• Filter by minimum advertised download speed in Mbps
• Filter to consumer-only or business-only service
• Returns per-provider records with hoconum, techcode, maxaddown, maxadup, consumer, business
• Coverage is Form 477 data through June 2021 — reflects ISP-reported availability at census block granularity (not address-level)

fcc_get_coverage_summary

Analyze broadband access across any US geography at a given speed threshold.

• Supports seven geography types: nation, state, county, cd (congressional district), place (census-designated place), cbsa (metro area), tribal
• Technology filter: any wired/fixed wireless (acfosw), fiber only (f), cable (c), DSL (a), satellite (s), fixed wireless (w), or combinations
• Speed thresholds: 0.2, 4, 10, 25 (FCC legacy broadband definition), 100 (BEAD standard), 250, 1000 Mbps
• Returns population breakdowns: zero providers (unserved), one (no competition), two, three-plus; coverage %, unserved %, competitive %
• Per-segment breakdown by urban/rural and tribal/non-tribal for equity analysis

fcc_compare_areas

Rank geographies by broadband access metrics to identify where underservice is worst.

• Compare up to 50 geographies of the same type, or all 50 states + DC via compare_all_states: true
• Sort by unserved population share, raw unserved headcount (useful for BEAD funding allocation), coverage rate, or competitive share
• Every sort ranks worst-first — rank 1 is the area most in need, whichever metric you pick
• Returns a ranked table with per-geography population and coverage metrics
• Each row includes the resolved geography name alongside its GEOID when available

fcc_find_underserved

Find the most broadband-underserved areas within a state or nationwide.

• Scope to a specific state or territory, or run nationwide (returns top areas only)
• Geography granularity: county, congressional district, census place, or CBSA
• Default filter: rural areas only — where underservice is most concentrated
• min_unserved_pop defaults to 1, so fully covered areas stay out of the ranking; set it to 0 to rank every area, or higher to drop small gaps
• Results ranked by unserved population, highest first
• Each row includes the resolved geography name alongside its GEOID when available

fcc_search_providers

Look up ISPs by name or state to get hoconum identifiers for follow-up queries.

• Case-insensitive partial name match — e.g., "Comcast", "T-Mobile", "Frontier"
• Filter by 2-letter state abbreviation or technology code
• Returns deduplicated holding companies with hoconum, states served, and technology codes
• Geographic filtering is state-level; sub-state granularity requires cross-referencing block data via fcc_search_availability
• Up to 200 results per call

fcc_list_filing_periods

Discover valid data vintages before querying download manifests.

• Form 477 periods (Jun 2015–Jun 2021) are hardcoded — always available, no credentials needed
• BDC as-of dates (Jun 2022 onward) are fetched live from the authenticated API — requires FCC_BDC_USERNAME and FCC_BDC_HASH_VALUE
• Call before fcc_list_downloads to determine valid as_of_date values

fcc_list_downloads

List BDC bulk data files available for download for a specific filing period.

• Requires BDC API credentials (FCC_BDC_USERNAME, FCC_BDC_HASH_VALUE)
• Filter by data type (availability or challenge), file category, technology type, state, or provider name
• Returns file metadata — provider, state, technology, record count — plus download URLs
• Returns file manifests, not file contents; BDC CSVs are large zipped files not suitable for inline API response
• Paged with limit (default 50, max 200) and offset — totalFiles counts every file matching the filters, and each response reports its offset, its file count, and a nextOffset to pass back, omitted on the last page
• An as_of_date that is not a calendar date, or that falls before the first BDC period (2022-06-30), is rejected without credentials; a well-formed date BDC does not publish is rejected once credentials allow the published set to be read

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