FCC Broadband Map MCP Server

FCC Broadband Map

FCC Broadband Map provides broadband deployment data — ISP coverage, speeds, and technology types by location. Data includes provider name, technology (fiber, cable, DSL, fixed wireless, satellite), download/upload speeds, and coverage areas. Updated semi-annually from ISP filings.

Data Model

• As-of dates — availability and challenge snapshot dates (listAsOfDates).
• Availability catalog — metadata for CSV/ZIP files (downloads/listAvailabilityData/{as_of_date}): provider lists, location coverage, summaries by state or provider.
• Challenge catalog — challenge-process download metadata (downloads/listChallengeData/{as_of_date}).
• File download — binary files via downloads/downloadFile/{data_type}/{file_id}/{file_type}; MCPBundles stores large files in S3 and returns a presigned download_url.
• Providers — ISP names and provider IDs in national/state provider list files.
• Technologies — Fixed Broadband, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Voice (download file groupings).
• Geography — catalog rows include state_fips / state_name; filter client-side when the API returns a multi-state set.

Typical workflow

1. List availability and challenge snapshot dates (no parameters).
2. With an as_of_date, browse the availability download catalog — category is required (usually State or Summary); add subcategory to narrow (e.g. Provider List, Location Coverage).
3. For national provider-list file metadata on a snapshot, use the provider-list shortcut (pass state_fips for API compatibility; the file is typically one CSV covering all states).
4. List challenge-process download files for a snapshot; filter by category (e.g. Fixed Challenge - In Progress); state_fips may be ignored upstream — filter rows locally when you need one state.
5. Download by file_id from catalog rows; large files return a presigned S3 URL.

Gotchas

• Auth: FCC requires two credential fields sent as HTTP headers — username (FCC account email) and hash_value (API token from Manage API Access). Not a query param or Bearer token.
• Catalog requires category: as_of_date alone on availability catalog often returns zero rows. Always pass category (and usually subcategory) when listing files.
• technology_type needs category: Pass category=State (or Summary) together with technology_type; technology alone returns empty.
• state_fips on availability/challenge catalog: Upstream may ignore state_fips and return multi-state rows — filter the returned data[] by state_fips / state_name when you need one state.
• Newest snapshot date: The latest listed availability date may have an empty catalog until FCC publishes files; try the previous date if you get zero rows.
• file_type on download: The download path uses a numeric format code (typically 1), not the catalog row's string file_type label (e.g. csv).
• Rate limits: listAsOfDates is 10 calls/minute per FCC spec — cache dates when possible.
• Point lookups: Lat/lon inline coverage is not on the /api/public/map surface; use download files or FCC public_api separately if needed.
• No inline ISP search: There is no API to search providers by address or company name on this surface — only bulk CSV/ZIP downloads.