Last Update: 03/11/2025
National Fabric Licensing FAQ:
It depends. CostQuest provides a no-cost Fabric license through two distinct paths. Each path supports a distinct set of purposes within Federal programs. To decide on the appropriate license, you need to first understand what you are trying to accomplish with the Fabric Data.
If you need the Fabric to file challenges to the data shown on the National Broadband Map or to participate in the FCC Broadband Data Collection, you will need to obtain an FCC Fabric license. The FCC has posted several articles describing the process. See: https://help.bdc.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/articles/10419121200923-How-Entities-Can-Access-the-Location-Fabric.
If you need the Fabric to participate in a Federal Broadband Granting Agency (FBGA) program, you will need an NTIA Fabric license. NTIA licenses are available for recipients, sub-recipients, and challengers. More information is available under the NTIA Licensing Questions section of this FAQ.
To achieve all of your goals, you may need both an NTIA and FCC license.
The table below provides a quick summary of purposes that qualify an entity for a Fabric Data license.
| Purposes | FCC Fabric Licenses | NTIA Fabric Licenses |
|---|---|---|
| Participate in an FCC BDC Bulk Fabric challenge | Yes | No |
| Participate in an FCC BDC Bulk Broadband Availability Challenge | Yes | No |
| Participate in an FCC BDC Availability Submission | Yes | No |
| Participate in an FCC effort to update and verify compliance with certain High-Cost program support and deployment obligations | Yes | No |
| Participate in an NTIA BEAD Eligible Entity challenge process | No | Yes |
| Participate in Treasury, USDA or other FBGA challenge process | No | Yes |
| Participate in an FBGA broadband grant program as a sub-recipient, recipient or indirect recipient | No | Yes |
The list below is a partial collection of FBGA programs. Not all programs are open at all times and to all potential recipients.
| FBGA |
|---|
| Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)-Area Development |
| Appalachian Regional Commission-POWER |
| Department of the Treasury -Community Development Financial Institutions Fund-New Markets Tax Credit Program |
| Delta Regional Authority-Community Infrastructure Fund |
| Delta Regional Authority-States Economic Development Assistance Program |
| Denali Commission-Alaska Broadband Program |
| Department of the Treasury-American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds |
| Department of the Treasury-Capital Projects Fund |
| Northern Border Regional Commission-State Economic & Infrastructure Development (SEID) Program |
| USDA-Rural Business-Cooperative Service-Business and Industry (B&I) Loan Guarantee Program |
| USDA-Rural Business-Cooperative Service-Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program (REDLG) |
| USDA-Rural Utilities Service-Community Connect Grant Program |
| USDA-Rural Utilities Service-Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program |
| USDA-Rural Utilities Service-ReConnect Program |
| USDA-Rural Utilities Service-Telecommunications Infrastructure Program (Infrastructure Program) |
| U.S. Department of Commerce/Economic Development Administration-FY 2023 EDA Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance Programs |
| U.S. Department of Commerce/ Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program |
| U.S. Department of Commerce/ Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program |
| U.S. Department of Commerce/ Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program |
| U.S. Department of Commerce/ Broadband Infrastructure Program |
It depends on how you are planning to participate.
If you or your organization is going to participate in a challenge process and will create the challenge through the FCC or a State challenge map, you won’t need a Fabric license. For example, you can create an FCC Fabric challenge, including adding a location or changing an address, by searching for address in the FCC National Broadband Map < https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/home > and submitting the challenge directly through the map interface. No license is required. Many States are developing similar methods to support the BEAD challenge process without requiring challengers to identify locations by fabric location ID. If you or your organization wants to create a bulk or file-based challenge, you will need a Fabric license. The Fabric license will provide the attributes (longitude, latitude, primary address, etc.) that will support broad analysis to enable Fabric and availability challenges. The most common analysis supports linking state-provided broadband availability information to a location record. Establishing this linkage allows challengers to validate the presence of broadband service provided to an address. In some cases, challengers use an address lookup against service availability databases. In other types of analysis, we are aware of challengers who are field-validating the presence of broadband networks. The field survey information is compared to broadband availability information developed within a Geographic Information System.
CostQuest is contracted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to provide the Fabric data. This data can be accessed through the NTIA Fabric License Tiers – A, B, C, D, and E. This framework has been designed to support the objectives of the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, including participation in state and other eligible entity administered challenge processes, and other Federal broadband programs available today or in the future through a Federal Broadband Granting Agency (FBGA). An awardee of Federal funds from the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (Section 60105) will need to license the data to satisfy compliance reporting requirements of these programs. If your organization currently participates or intends to participate in Federally funded broadband programs or a state-led challenge process, the NTIA Fabric license may support these activities, in accordance with the terms of the License Agreement.
Once your license is approved, you will receive the NTIA Fabric file. The Fabric file is a .csv file that includes the unique location_id for each Broadband Serviceable Location, the latitude/longitude for each location record as well as other attribute information. Two types of location records are present within the NTIA Fabric file. Records with bsl_flag=TRUE indicate where mass-market broadband is provided. Records with bsl_flag=FALSE indicate where mass-market broadband is not provided. Broadband information derived from the FCC BDC program is only available for records where bsl_flag=TRUE.
The fabric available through the FCC and NTIA licenses are consistent within a release. The FCC release separates bsl_flag yes and no records into distinct files. NTIA Fabric is presented as a single file.
A release refers to the fabric version that the FCC makes available for BDC purposes. If the date of the release is the same, then the fabric obtained through the FCC or NTIA license is the same. Both the FCC Fabric and Fabric released by NTIA contain a column, fcc_rel. This column provides the date of the FCC Fabric used in that deliverable.
Five License tiers are available. The tiers are described in the table below.
| Tier | Available to Licensees | Description | How do you request a license? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier A | NTIA | NTIA, its agents, and any NTIA-established entities. | Complete |
| Tier B | Federal Broadband Granting Agencies | Includes any federal agency that administers a federal financial assistance program that supports or promotes broadband deployment, use, or adoption. | Available on request through NTIA. |
| Tier C | Pass-through entities | Includes Broadband Grant Program recipients that are a State, local government, Tribal Entity, Institution of Higher Education, or nonprofit organization. | Available on request through NTIA. |
| Tier D | Prospective and awarded Recipients and Subrecipients | Entities that participate in Federal Broadband Programs | Available |
| Tier E | Licensee-Pass Through Entity Challengers | Entities that have challenged pass-through entity coverage maps . | Unavailable as of 12/31/2024 |
NTIA has provided CostQuest with a list of contacts at state broadband offices. CostQuest has sent an email to each contact. If you have not been contacted and believe you should have been, please email CostQuest at [email protected].
Tribal organizations seeking a Fabric license to participate in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program should contact [email protected] and request a Tier C license.
I am a contractor for a State. How do I get the NTIA Fabric?
A contractor for a State can obtain the NTIA Fabric pursuant to the terms of the State’s Tier C license. The State must complete the NTIA Tier C license process. Once the state is licensed, it is permitted to share the Licensed Materials with you as an Authorized User, per the process outlined in the License Agreement. The Licensed Materials will be shared by the Licensee (state), they will not come through CostQuest. It is the Licensee’s responsibility to ensure Attachment B of its License Agreement is completed by the Authorized Users. The Licensee remains responsible for the protection and appropriate use of the Licensed Materials.
The NTIA Tier C license supports the distribution of Licensed Materials to a Licensee’s Authorized Users. An Authorized User may be a subcontractor or contractor working on the Licensee’s behalf to support the licensed purposes. The use of the Licensed Materials by the Authorized Users must be in support of the Licensee’s intent and consistent with the terms of the license agreement. A Tier C licensee can publish a subset of location_id(s). This subset is typically the location_id of Unserved and Underserved records that are the basis of the challenge process. A Tier C user can also publish Derivative Data Records to fulfill reporting requirements under IIJA section 60105. More information can be found in section 6 of the UCS.
The NTIA Tier D license supports the distribution of Licensed Materials to a Licensee’s Authorized Users. An Authorized User may be a subcontractor or contractor working on the Licensee’s behalf to support the licensed purposes. The use of the Licensed Materials by the Authorized Users must be in support of the Licensee’s intent and consistent with the terms of the license agreement. A tier D licensee can publish availability information (location_id and broadband coverage information) with other Licensees.
The FCC licenses (Tiers 1, 2, 3, and 4) are specific to FCC BDC purposes. Those agreements were developed under an agreement with the FCC, which restricts the use of Licensed Materials for FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) purposes. These purposes include submitting Fabric corrections as well as submitting broadband availability and availability challenges.
The NTIA licenses (Tier A, B, C, D, and E) were developed to support the BEAD program and other federal broadband programs available today or in the future and facilitate compliance with reporting obligations associated with such programs – including reporting associated with the FCC Broadband Funding Map established by section 60105 of the IIJA. If your organization currently participates or intends to participate in federal broadband programs, the NTIA license may support those activities, consistent with the terms of the License Agreement.
The answer varies based on how the county or other local government intends to use the Fabric Data.
If the county is helping the state fulfill the responsibilities of a Pass Through Entity, this would be an Authorized User of a Tier C license. An example could be a county GIS center that supports statewide mapping. That would be an Authorized User.
If the county or other local government is seeking sub-recipient funds to lead a broadband deployment project, that is Tier D license.
Tier C License Questions
The NTIA Tier C license supports the distribution of Licensed Materials to a Licensee’s Authorized Users. An Authorized User may be a subcontractor or contractor working on the Licensee’s behalf to support the licensed purposes. The use of the Licensed Material by the Authorized Users must be in support of the Licensee’s intent and consistent with the terms of the license agreement.
Complete Exhibit B in the Agreement and retain it for your records. Note that Exhibit B to the License Agreement requires a Licensee to obtain signatures of its Authorized User Entities (I.e., not every employee of the Authorized User but the signature of an individual with appropriate signature authority from the Authorized User entity) agreeing to the terms of the License Agreement.
An entity that shares Licensed Materials with an Authorized User remains responsible for ensuring the Authorized User maintains the security of the Licensed Materials and uses the Licensed Materials in accordance with the Permitted Uses.
To support a challenge process, a Pass Through Entity can publish the Fabric’s location_id field along with non-Fabric derived attributes such as technology and speed to fulfill its federal broadband grant program obligations. From a challenger’s perspective, both a sub-recipient (eg. an ISP who holds a Tier D license) and a local government / non-profit (who holds a Tier E license*) will be able to translate the location_id into an address and location for review purposes.
*Note, all State BEAD Challenge windows have closed. Tier E licenses are no longer available and will be terminating in 2025.
No. The only Licensed Materials that can be shared back with another Licensee may only include the location_id. An example of this is a record submitted to the FCC BDC system. This record consists of location_id with FCC required broadband availability.
CostQuest will only consider modifications to the Tier C Agreement in cases where the Agreement language conflicts with local, tribal or state laws and regulations. A sample copy of the Tier C Agreement is available here https://costquest.com/50e4d0. Please contact the NTIA help desk, [email protected], to begin the modification process.
The Tier C license provides rights to publish Derivative Data Reports, such as broadband coverage by state, county, Metropolitan Statistical Area, Congressional District, Census Designated Place, tribal area, or other US Census Bureau-defined boundary, or at H3_8 or larger Uber hex cell levels (or such other aggregated geographies as may be agreed by the Licensee and Licensor).
As described above, a Tier C Licensee can also publish a subset of location_id’s to support its challenge process.
Tier C Online Presentation Questions
Yes. The Tier C License allows your organization to produce graphical representations in an online map. The online map should be set up to prevent the download of Data in a manner that is inconsistent with each user’s License Agreement and should indicate restrictions of use. The Licensee will also not permit the export or publication of raw Data from the online interface. In other words, specific security measures must prevent bulk extractions of attribute-level data from an online presentation.
The FCC Broadband Map is a model of how Data can be mapped in an online environment. Attributes from Fabric records are visible on user click. There are security procedures in place that prevent the automated scraping of attribute information. Display of Fabric attributes via labels (e.g., address, latitude and longitude) are not permitted. Thematic mapping-using color or other cartographic techniques to influence the appearance of spatial data- for categories of attributes (served, unserved, building_type_code, cost, etc.) is permitted. Thematic categories should be developed so that Data attribute information is not clearly discernable (e.g., categories so narrow the value of an attribute is apparent).
Yes. Reports and dashboards can be published online. These publications should follow the guidelines presented above for reporting. The online reports and / or dashboards must also be set up in such a way as to prevent bulk extractions of attribute-level data.
Tier D License Questions
Yes. Some states (Pass Through Entities) require ISPs (Tier D Licensees) to provide deployment information. In another circumstance, Tier B Licensees (FBGAs) require Tier C Licensees to report deployment information from ISPs.
Under the NTIA License, a Licensee can publish deployment filings to another Licensee. After you confirm the other entity has an NTIA License, you can pass the BDC deployment information to the other Licensee. Do not pass the entire Data record along with the deployment information. Pass only the Fabric location_id along with the required deployment information.
Once you have received a Tier D license that covers the counties of your award, you can exchange the location_id(s) and broadband availability information corresponding to the reporting requirement. This same process can be used for other FBGA awards.
NTIA Licensing Questions
CostQuest is contracted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to provide the Fabric data. This data can be accessed through the NTIA Fabric License Tiers – A, B, C, D, and E. This framework has been designed to support the objectives of the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, including participation in state and other eligible entity administered challenge processes, and other Federal broadband programs available today or in the future through a Federal Broadband Granting Agency (FBGA). An awardee of Federal funds from the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (Section 60105) will need to license the data to satisfy compliance reporting requirements of these programs. If your organization currently participates or intends to participate in Federally funded broadband programs or a state-led challenge process, the NTIA Fabric license may support these activities, in accordance with the terms of the License Agreement.
Once your license is approved, you will receive the NTIA Fabric file. The Fabric file is a .csv file that includes the unique location_id for each Broadband Serviceable Location, the latitude/longitude for each location record as well as other attribute information. Two types of location records are present within the NTIA Fabric file. Records with bsl_flag=TRUE indicate where mass-market broadband is provided. Records with bsl_flag=FALSE indicate where mass-market broadband is not provided. Broadband information derived from the FCC BDC program is only available for records where bsl_flag=TRUE.
Five license tiers are available. The tiers are described in the table below.
| Tier | Available to Licensees | Description | How do you request a license? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier A | NTIA | NTIA, its agents, and any NTIA-established entities . | Complete |
| Tier B | Federal Broadband Granting Agencies | Includes any federal agency that administers a federal financial assistance program that supports or promotes broadband deployment, use, or adoption | Available on request through NTIA |
| Tier C | Pass-through entities | Includes Broadband Grant Program recipients that are a State, local government, Tribal Entity, Institution of Higher Education, or nonprofit organization | Available on request through NTIA. |
| Tier D | Prospective and awarded Recipients and Subrecipients | Entities that participate in Federal Broadband Programs | Available |
| Tier E | Licensee-Pass Through Entity Challengers | Entities that have challenged pass-through entity coverage maps . | Unavailable as of 12/31/2024 |
NTIA has provided CostQuest with a list of contacts at state broadband offices. CostQuest has sent an email to each contact. If you have not been contacted and believe you should have been, please email CostQuest at [email protected].
Tribal organizations seeking a Fabric license to participate in the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program should contact [email protected] and request a Tier C license.
I am a contractor for a State. How do I get the NTIA Fabric?
A contractor for a State can obtain the NTIA Fabric pursuant to the terms of the State’s Tier C license. The State must complete the NTIA Tier C license process. Once the state is licensed, it is permitted to share the Licensed Materials with you as an Authorized User, per the process outlined in the License Agreement. The Licensed Materials will be shared by the Licensee (state), they will not come through CostQuest. It is the Licensee’s responsibility to ensure Attachment B of its License Agreement is completed by the Authorized Users. The Licensee remains responsible for the protection and appropriate use of the Licensed Materials.
The NTIA Tier C license supports the distribution of Licensed Materials to a Licensee’s Authorized Users. An Authorized User may be a subcontractor or contractor working on the Licensee’s behalf to support the licensed purposes. The use of the Licensed Materials by the Authorized Users must be in support of the Licensee’s intent and consistent with the terms of the license agreement. A Tier C licensee can publish a subset of location_id(s). This subset is typically the location_id of Unserved and Underserved records that are the basis of the challenge process. A Tier C user can also publish Derivative Data Records to fulfill reporting requirements under IIJA section 60105. More information can be found in section 6 of the UCS.
The NTIA Tier D license supports the distribution of Licensed Materials to a Licensee’s Authorized Users. An Authorized User may be a subcontractor or contractor working on the Licensee’s behalf to support the licensed purposes. The use of the Licensed Materials by the Authorized Users must be in support of the Licensee’s intent and consistent with the terms of the license agreement. A tier D licensee can publish availability information (location_id and broadband coverage information) with other Licensees.
Yes, Tier D and E licenses do terminate. There is not a singular termination date for the NTIA Tier D and E licenses. Each organization’s License Administrator will receive a termination notice via email from [email protected] when the organization’s license terminates.
Tier D licenses will be terminating on a rolling basis, dictated by the state’s announcements of BEAD funding allocations.
If an organization has been awarded funding, it is permitted to maintain CostQuest’s Licensed Materials (Fabric Data) for its awarded locations. If an organization has not been awarded funding it must complete the termination process. If an organization has been awarded funding for some, but not all, of its locations it must complete the termination process for all unawarded locations.
All termination notification emails will be sent to the organization’s License Administrator. License Administrators should monitor their inbox for a termination notice email from [email protected]. Instructions for license termination will be included in the license termination notice.
Yes. If your organization did not receive an award and your Tier D license has terminated there are ways to continue using CostQuest’s Fabric Data.
Tier D Licensees may pursue a Persistence License or a Commercial License to maintain the use of the fabric data. Information on license termination, persistence licenses, and commercial licenses may be found in the termination notice email, or on CostQuest’s NTIA Fabric Licensing homepage NTIA Location Fabric Licensing Center.
Tier E licenses will be terminated as all State BEAD Challenge windows closed on 12/31/2024. Each organization’s License Administrator will receive an email from [email protected] with a termination notice. The email will contain information about license termination and instructions for the license termination process.
Yes. A Tier E licensee may pursue a Commercial License to maintain Fabric Data or obtain new Fabric Data. Please refer to CostQuest’s NTIA Fabric Licensing homepage for additional information regarding license termination or commercial licensing options NTIA Location Fabric Licensing Center.
For additional information please go to CostQuest’s NTIA Fabric Licensing homepage that is linked here NTIA Location Fabric Licensing Center.
The FCC licenses (Tiers 1, 2, 3, and 4) are specific to FCC BDC purposes. Those agreements were developed under an agreement with the FCC, which restricts the use of Licensed Materials for FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) purposes. These purposes include submitting Fabric corrections as well as submitting broadband availability and availability challenges.
The NTIA licenses (Tier A, B, C, D, and E) were developed to support the BEAD program and other federal broadband programs available today or in the future and facilitate compliance with reporting obligations associated with such programs – including reporting associated with the FCC Broadband Funding Map established by section 60105 of the IIJA. If your organization currently participates or intends to participate in federal broadband programs, the NTIA license may support those activities, consistent with the terms of the License Agreement.
NTIA has provided CostQuest with a list of state contacts. CostQuest sent an email to each contact. If you have not been contacted and believe you should have been, please contact CostQuest, [email protected].
The fabric available through the FCC and NTIA licenses are consistent within a release. The FCC release separates bsl_flag yes and no records into distinct files. NTIA Fabric is presented as a single file.
A release refers to the fabric version that the FCC makes available for BDC purposes. If the date of the release is the same, then the fabric obtained through the FCC or NTIA license is the same. Both the FCC Fabric and Fabric released by NTIA contain a column, fcc_rel. This column provides the date of the FCC Fabric used in that deliverable.
A contractor for a State can get the NTIA Fabric pursuant to the terms of the State’s Tier C license. The State should complete the NTIA Tier C license process. Once they are licensed, the State can share the Licensed Materials with you as an Authorized User, per the process outlined in the License Agreement. The Licensed Materials will be shared by the Licensee. They will not come through CostQuest. It is the Licensee’s responsibility to ensure Attachment B of their License Agreement is completed by Authorized Users.
FCC Licensing Questions
Click here to learn how to get access to the Fabric for FCC programs.
Questions about FCC Fabric licensing can be sent to [email protected].
No. The FCC Licensed Materials are only for FCC BDC purposes. They can’t be used for purposes outside of the license agreement. If you are going to use FCC Licensed Materials for purposes other than BDC purposes, this is a violation of the FCC License Agreement.
Yes. The Tier 2 License and User Class Statement (UCS) have been updated periodically. The most recent version can be found at: https://costquest.com/g1kt4d
No. FCC Tier 2 Licensees are prohibited from using Fabric data for any other purposes beyond their participation in the BDC, including commercial and non-commercial uses or any publication. For clarity, the NTIA license also limits the use of the Fabric data to a limited set of permitted uses. If you are unsure of your use case, please review the respective license agreement.
The User Tier 2 USC was also modified on September 6, 2023 to expand the FCC programs for which the Data and Derivatives can be used. In addition to permitting use of the Fabric in meeting Broadband Data Act (“BDA”) obligations, such as the Broadband Data Collection, the modified license now allows Tier 2 licensees, such as broadband internet access service providers, to submit Fabric-derived filings to the FCC (and/or any FCC-established entities, e.g., USAC) for Universal Service Fund reporting obligations. Currently this allows Tier 2 license holders to use the Fabric for comparative analysis of their BDC filings and other FCC required filings.
On January 25, 2024, the FCC released a Public Notice seeking comment on expanded uses of the Fabric for high-cost support mechanism deployment obligations. <https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-77A1.pdf>
While the FCC has certain rights to use Fabric data in support of its Universal Service Fund programs, we recognize that additional data usage rights may be needed in the future to allow for ISPs to comply with certain program rules. CostQuest anticipates additional information will be provided by the FCC in the future.
The August 26th, 2022, UCS enhancement allows ISPs who licensed the Fabric data under FCC Tier 2 and created their FCC BDC filing, to share the same filing with States who have licensed the FCC Tier 2 Fabric data for BDC purposes. The shared file can only include the Fabric location_id along with availability data. The States can then link the shared file to their Tier 2 licensed Fabric by location id for more information. That said, the shared data file cannot be shared with non-licensees (FCC Tier 2) nor used for purposes outside the BDC effort. A shared file can contain only the location_id sourced from the Licensed Materials
ISPs seeking to participate in NTIA BEAD or other FBGA broadband award or challenge programs should apply for the appropriate NTIA license.
Licensee use of the Fabric data is limited to the purposes expressly set forth in the Tier 2 FCC Fabric License and the UCS attached thereto. Under the Tier 2 FCC Fabric License, Licensees can develop reports and analytics that support the FCC BDC efforts. Examples for Tier 2 use by a government entity could include identifying ISPs who have submitted (or not submitted) into the BDC, as well as comparing BDC submissions to other sources of broadband availability information to formulate a BDC availability challenge.
The FCC Tier 4 Research License supports non-commercial academic or public-policy research directly related to broadband availability. More information about Tier 4 licenses is available below.
Tier 2 FCC licensees may only share data with other Tier 2 FCC licensees, which only includes Internet service providers, State, local and Tribal governmental entities, and other approved entities that have executed a Tier 2 FCC Fabric License. It is the licensee’s responsibility to confirm, prior to sharing any data, that the entity with whom it intends to share data is a Tier 2 licensee that has executed a licensing agreement with CostQuest Associates.
Academic institutions and non-profits may be eligible for a Tier 4 license. More information about Tier 4 licenses is available below.
The Tier 2 FCC Fabric license allows Tier 2 Licensees to share fixed broadband availability data with other FCC Licensees, provided that the data is in the same format as submitted to the FCC through the BDC.
An NTIA Tier D or E license provides access to Fabric data and allows participation in Federally funded broadband programs or State-led challenge processes. NTIA Tier D data cannot be shared with an FCC Licensee unless the FCC Licensee also has an NTIA Tier D license.
A Tier 4 Fabric license is intended for entities that are not governments, tribes or ISPs. In some cases, ISPs who seek Fabric data outside of their service area can qualify as a Tier 4 Licensee.
There are two Tier 4 FCC Agreements, the “Standard Agreement” and the “Research License” . The FCC Tier 4 Standard Agreement supports the filing of BDC challenges by entities not covered under another FCC license Agreement (i.e. entities other than governments, tribes, ISPs, etc.). The FCC Tier 4 Research License supports non-commercial academic or public-policy research directly related to broadband availability.
This process is described in this BDC article: How Entities Can Access the Location Fabric – BDC Help Center (fcc.gov)
Challenge Process
How you use the Fabric Data will vary based on the type of challenge program you are participating in. We are aware of three categories of challenge process: FCC BDC, NTIA BEAD and other FBGA.
The FCC License supports exchanging challenge information among other FCC licensed parties. The NTIA license supports sharing challenge information with the FBGA operating the challenge. In both cases, the only Fabric derived field that can be shared is the location_id, as shown in the table below.
| FCC Fabric License (Tier 2 and Tier 4 License) | NTIA Fabric License (Tier D and Tier E) | |
|---|---|---|
| location_id | Yes | Yes |
| address_primary | No | No |
| city | No | No |
| state | No | No |
| zip | No | No |
| zip_suffix | No | No |
| unit_count | No | No |
| bsl_flag | No | No |
| building_type_code | No | No |
| land_use_code | No | No |
| address_confidence_code | No | No |
| county_geoid | No | No |
| block_geoid | No | No |
| h3_9 | No | No |
| latitude | No | No |
| longitude | No | No |
If you are participating in a challenge process outside of the FCC, you need an NTIA Tier D or E license. The table below summarizes common use cases. Bulk challenges to the location data shown on the FCC’s National Broadband Map require and FCC Tier License, 1, 2, 3,or 4.
| Use Case | FCC Fabric License | NTIA License |
|---|---|---|
| Prospective sub-recipient, indirect recipient (e.g., ISP) seeking funds to build a network | Not permitted under FCC License | Tier D |
| Prospective sub-recipient, indirect recipient (e,g., ISP) seeking funds to build a network or submit a challenge | Not permitted under FCC License | Tier D |
| Awarded sub-recipient or indirect recipient (e.g., ISP) fulfilling an IIJA 60105 reporting obligation. | Not permitted under FCC License | Tier D |
| Non-profit, unit of local government participating in a challenge | Not permitted under FCC License | Tier E |
| Consultant supporting a non-profit or unit of local government participating in an FBGA challenge process | Tier 4 | Tier E |
Complete use rights and restrictions are explained within the license. The following summary may help to direct the appropriate use of the Data.
- NTIA Tier C licensees can publish a list of unserved and underserved location_ids. No other Fabric attribute may be published.
- NTIA Tier C licensees have the right to publish and display data via a graphical representation in an online map, in reports or other static formats. Publications, displays, and reports or other static formats shall be locked such that unauthorized parties cannot extract licensed data used to generate the static display or report. The Tier C Licensee will not permit the export or publication of raw licensed data. For clarity, an FCC Tier 2 Designated Entity license (see: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-22-417A1.pdf) also supports similar rights to support the FCC BDC purposes.
- NTIA Tier D licensees have the right to prepare and submit Derivative Data Records to an FBGA (Tier B) or Pass Through Entity (Tier C) as necessary to participate in an FBGA broadband grant challenge program. Only location_id from the Fabric Data can be provided in any Derivative Data Record. Although the form of responsive record to an FBGA may vary, we understand the record will consist of nothing other than the location_id sourced from the Fabric and additional information such as broadband coverage speed and deployment technology.
- NTIA Tier E licensees have the right to prepare and submit derivative data records to an FBGA (Tier B) or Pass Through Entity (Tier C) as necessary to participate in an FBGA broadband grant challenge program. Only location_id from the Fabric Data can be provided in any Derivative Data Record. Although the form of responsive record to an FBGA or Pass Through Entity may vary, we understand the record will consist of nothing other than the location_id sourced from the Fabric and additional information such as broadband coverage speed and deployment technology.
- FCC licensees are restricted from using Fabric Data to support any process outside of the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) with data licensed under FCC Tier 2,3 or 4. Any participant in a State or FBGA Federal broadband grant program requires an NTIA Tier D or E License.
IIJA 60105 Reporting Process
Once you have received an NTIA Tier D license that covers the counties of your award, you can provide the location ID(s) and broadband availability information needed to meet the reporting requirement. This same process can be used for other FBGA awards.
It depends on the source of the attribute data.
NTIA licenses do not allow any attributes other than location_id to get reported to Pass Through Entities (States). If values beyond the location_id are derived outside of the Fabric Data, they can be supplied. An example of this would be supplying an awardee’s GPS derived longitude and latitude. Those values can be used since they were not derived from the Fabric, even if they are similar to information contained in the licensed Fabric data.
Have questions?
Please email [email protected] for any additional questions regarding the NTIA Fabric License.
For questions regarding the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric for the Broadband Data Collection, please email [email protected].
Disclaimers
This document and its contents are made available to you by CostQuest Associates, Inc. and may contain trademarks of other companies. These trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This document and its contents may be used only as necessary to fulfill Licensee’s statutory broadband-related obligations, including but not limited to those set forth in the IIJA, the ACCESS BROADBAND Act, the Internet for All Initiatives, and such future federally administered broadband deployment programs as may be legislatively mandated. No trademark nor any of the Fabric Data or Cost Data which are contained herein may be used for any other purpose(s), and you may not distribute, publish, sublicense, rent, lease or lend the Fabric Data or Cost Data for any purpose or in any other manner unless expressly permitted in the Agreement or UCS.
These data are submitted with limited rights under Government Contract No.1331L523C13500008. These data may be reproduced and used by the Government with the express limitation that they will not, without written permission of the Contractor, be used for purposes of manufacture nor disclosed outside the Government; except that the Government may disclose these data outside the Government for the following purposes, if any; provided that the Government makes such disclosure subject to prohibition against further use and disclosure.
This FAQ does not constitute legal advice. CostQuest can’t provide legal analysis for Licensees. We recommend that any questions or concerns be discussed with your legal counsel after review of the appropriate License Agreement.
This communication does not reflect the opinion or the policy of the Federal Communications Commission or National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Neither agency is responsible for the information or views in this communication. The agencies are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such information or views.