AT&T gave FCC false broadband-coverage data in parts of 20 states

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AT&T falsely reported to the Federal Communications Commission that it offers broadband in nearly 3,600 census blocks spread across parts of 20 states.

AT&T disclosed the error to the FCC in a filing a week ago. The filing provides “a list of census blocks AT&T previously reported as having broadband deployment at speeds of at least 25Mbps downstream/3 Mbps upstream that AT&T has removed from its Form 477 reports.” The 78-page list includes nearly 3,600 blocks.

With Form 477 reports, ISPs are required to tell the FCC which census blocks they offer service in. The FCC uses the data to track broadband-deployment progress and, crucially, to decide which census blocks get government funding for deploying Internet service. AT&T falsely reporting broadband-data coverage could prevent other ISPs from getting that funding and leave Americans without broadband access.

When contacted by Ars, AT&T said the mistake was caused by a software problem. “The updates to the census blocks address an issue with a third party’s geocoding software. There has been no change to our service area and this doesn’t affect the service we provide our customers,” AT&T told Ars.

Error “unnoticed for 2-plus years”

The error appeared in AT&T filings to the FCC going back to December 2017, broadband researcher Derek Turner told Ars. Turner is the research director of consumer-advocacy group Free Press.

The error affecting 3,600 census blocks is relatively small, as AT&T offers service in 2.2 million blocks, Turner said. But aside from one even bigger error by an ISP called BarrierFree last year, Turner said he hasn’t “seen any

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