It's easy enough to geo-register a screenshot of an online map as long as there are points in the image that match up to a real map. Like bridges or distinct terrain features. Once the image is overlayed on the map, you can either manually trace things on the image, or if the things you want are a distinct color you can generate shapes automatically by matching color.
I do that to make my own GIS files from Lumen's online network map. I may be a lunatic about this, but I much prefer having features in a layer I can turn on and off one map vs having to put two maps on the screen side by side. ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]> on behalf of Cameron Crum <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 30, 2026 5:37 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas The broadband map is the fabric but you can't extract lat/lon data without the fabric table itself. For that you need a license, unfortunately. That is the secret they guard, unless you can figure out how to scrape it from the broadband map. On Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 3:36 PM Adam Moffett <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Right, so I found grant award data which provided a table of specific points rather than polygons. The problem was they left the address, lat, and long fields blank on every record. So, I've got a location ID number and who the grant awardee was for that location ID, but not the actual location. Josh suggested that Costquest would have the actual location which I could correlate with the ID. ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Ken Hohhof <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Monday, March 30, 2026 10:48 AM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas The Costquest database just identifies serviceable locations AFAIK, I don’t think it tells you if there are ISPs there or grants like CAF/RDOF/BEAD. You would have to get that data from the FCC or your state. Also the Costquest information initially was terrible, and has been refined to merely mediocre. They are still missing locations, yet they include locations that are structures with no need for broadband, etc. For a commercial grain elevator near us, they list every grain bin and silo as a BSL. OK, I may know about those errors, but why would I (or anyone else) spend my time helping Costquest correct them? It’s not a freely available resource, so why should it be crowdsourced? Some of the states have put a lot of work into refining the data they get from FCC including challenges saying unserved locations are actually served. I don’t know if you could get access to this data, but it is probably more accurate. Plus you could probably get the list of locations they intend to fund through BEAD, and whether it will be fiber, coax, FWA or LEO. If you’re looking for areas to build into, I’d focus on those areas where the state intends to give BEAD money to Starlink or Amazon LEO. That tells you the state thinks the area is unservered or underserved, but that BEAD will not be funding a strong competitor. (Or at least one that doesn’t already exist.) The other low hanging fruit IMHO is areas in town that aren’t eligible for BEAD because there’s a cable company but that cable company is way overpriced. From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Adam Moffett Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2026 10:26 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas It would be for assessing competition. We have pretty decent intelligence on that already, but recently while looking at a potential new area it came out that there was a BEAD project which wasn't on our map. I was asked if I could dig up GIS data on that (for free). I found lots of things I could pay for. This Costquest outfit doesn't even seem competitive to be honest. ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Ken Hohhof <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2026 5:06 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas Depending on how you want to use it, there may be a problem. My personal view, and I am definitely not a lawyer, is if you want to use it internally for general network planning, what they don’t know won’t hurt them. If you are going to use it for a direct marketing campaign, or an online qualification tool, or something like that, probably don’t do that. It’s interesting that almost all big ISPs have online qualification tools, and they all look very similar, especially the process of identifying your street address. They all have to be getting the database and software from somebody. https://www.costquest.com/broadband-serviceable-location-fabric/fabric-faq/ Q: If I am an FCC licensee, can I use my FCC-licensed materials for purposes outside of the BDC process? A: 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. From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Adam Moffett Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2026 3:36 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas I wouldn't know. I'm in the "New Markets" department, and that would be in the realm of another department which handles compliance. I'll have to ask them. Information siloing is sometimes unavoidable, and I think this is a case in point: Not knowing that existed, I never knew to ask about it. I guess since I'm looking at "new" markets, the information they got for free is probably not what I need, but they may have bought something as well. I definitely will ask what we have. <soapbox>Information siloing is annoying, but it's 1% of it. I'll tell you that anyone who espouses the brutal efficiency of private enterprise has never worked for a corporation. You guys still in small businesses are the ones who have the brutal efficiency, and you might need a fainting couch if you saw some of the wasted time and money in corporations.</soapbox> ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Ken Hohhof <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2026 12:57 PM To: 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas Don’t you get it free if you file BDC? At least for your service area. I think first time we had to sign something with Costquest, some kind of NDA or something. From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Adam Moffett Sent: Sunday, March 29, 2026 11:52 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas Ah I see. I can't wait to find out what that costs. ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Josh Luthman <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2026 10:02 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas You need the fabric database from Costquest. You know, the one your taxes paid for you. You have to buy it again. On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 4:03 PM Adam Moffett <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I found a site where I could download a complete list of BEAD locations, but they removed the actual coordinates and addresses--I presume for privacy. Meanwhile, a different site has all of the CAF funded address points, with the addresses and coordinates intact. Make up your minds Federal Guys. ________________________________ From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of Josh Luthman <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Friday, March 27, 2026 12:34 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas Yep! RDOF is CBG BEAD is location fabric, individual houses Reconnect is a PFSA, a polygon(s) defining the project area To maximize government waste. Do the task three different ways to avoid being able to share resources. Oh and that FCC fabric is tax payer funded meanwhile ISPs are expected to be the ones to correct the data set. On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 11:47 AM Cameron Crum <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: The earlier ones were polygons, blocks and such, but the Bead is locations so you'd be looking at mixed data as well. On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 9:18 AM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: And then you’d need the list of defaults. Apparently RDOF had a bunch of those. From: AF <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Josh Luthman Sent: Friday, March 27, 2026 8:53 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] GIS file of grant project areas RDOF, BEAD, and Reconnect are there different government agencies. Of course they are not all in one spot. You can download those three from three spots. If you want to start including states, it'll be more places to look. Local stuff...jesus... On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 9:36 AM Adam Moffett <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Is there any consolidated map of federal broadband grant funded areas? A shape file or KMZ would be ideal. -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
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