GAO Confirms FCC’s Selection of CostQuest as the Provider of the National Location Fabric Dataset

By: CostQuest’s Communications Team.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CINCINNATI and SEATTLE — CostQuest Associates (CQA), awardee of the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric) project, has officially been contracted to deliver the broadband location data to support the Commission’s Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program. On February 24, 2022, The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest challenging the FCC’s award to CQA filed by LightBox Parent, L.P. (“LightBox”), a company best known as a data provider for the real estate industry, who also bid on the contract.

Jim Stegeman, CQA’s President and CEO, said that while the delay brought on by the protest was not optimal, CQA is nonetheless on-track to deliver the Fabric quickly. “Congress made a historic commitment to funding the closing of the Digital Divide, and part of that commitment included providing accurate data to support the efficient spending of public funds. The unfortunate delay in the start of this project will not keep us from delivering the quality data that supports giving Americans access to advanced broadband service.”

Stegeman went on to say that the data will be made available to not only broadband service providers, but state governments as well. “States will have direct access to the location data in the Fabric to support the collective effort of building a better national map.” The Commission’s Broadband Data Task Force (Task Force) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) will provide further guidance on allowing access to the location data.

Though LightBox’s protest delayed commencement of contract performance by more than three months, CQA will deliver the first version of the Fabric to the FCC later this year. The Fabric will be used to match broadband provider submissions of service availability, and other information, to build more granular broadband location maps. The FCC recently announced that service provider data submissions utilizing Fabric data must be submitted to the Commission by September 1st of this year.

For more information visit the FCC’s Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric.

About CostQuest

CostQuest Associates (CQA) has long led the communications industry in the knowledge of costs, network modeling, telecommunications economics, and regulation. CostQuest applied its communications knowledge, and its data science chops to developing the most accurate data to support business and policy decisions related to broadband deployment. CostQuest has offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Seattle, Washington.

CostQuest’s BroadbandFabric Data Suites – Your guide through the Digital Divide

CostQuest created the BroadbandFabric Data Suites to continue supporting governments and the communications industry in their broadband initiatives using our core Broadband Serviceable Locations. The BroadbandFabric Data Suites are a collection of unique datasets, each equipped with CostQuest’s Broadband Serviceable Locations, and are layered with insightful information per location to directly inform broadband deployment, business planning, and policy decisions intelligently.

Disclaimer: This disclaimer is required by CostQuest’s Contract No. 273FCC22C0001. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not reviewed or approved any statement in this document for accuracy or validity. The FCC and its employees do not endorse goods or services provided by the Contractor or any other contractor.

PDF of Press Release: GAO Confirms FCC’s Selection of CostQuest as the Provider of the National Location Fabric Dataset