The availability and speed of broadband service in the United States could be better. In an effort to improve both, the Federal Communications Commission is reaching out directly to consumers and asking them to share their broadband experiences as part of its broadband data collection program.

More than just venting, the FCC hopes that by listening to consumers' Internet experiences, it can help create a more accurate broadband map.

"Too many Americans will be left out of access to jobs, education, and health care without access to broadband. Collecting data from consumers directly affected by the lack of broadband access will help the FCC in its mapping work and future decisions about where service is needed."

Inaccurate broadband maps have been a source of frustration for Americans, especially (but not exclusively) those living in rural areas. To pour salt in the wound, the FCC, led by former Chairman Ajit Pai, released a broadband report in 2019 stating that high-speed Internet service is being "reasonably and timely deployed."

That same year, Microsoft called for "a new approach to mapping broadband data to better serve Americans," noting that multiple studies show broadband has a direct impact on jobs and GDP growth. [The government's latest broadband statistics from the FCC suggest that 25 million Americans do not have access to a broadband connection. However, there is strong evidence that the percentage of Americans without broadband access is much higher than the numbers reported by the FCC," Microsoft said at the time.

Microsoft's anonymized data showed that more than 160 million Americans were not using the Internet at broadband speeds in 2019, far more than the 24.7 million people the FCC claimed at the time had no broadband connection.

Data collection is part of the problem, especially when the primary source is mapping data from ISPs and cellular companies, and the FCC hopes that by working directly with consumers, it will be able to more accurately assess the true state of broadband in the US as experienced by actual users We hope that the FCC will be able to do the same.

"Service providers and governments are using the broadband map to make decisions about where service is needed and how to finance the expansion of broadband service, The FCC is in the process of updating its current broadband map with more detailed and accurate information on the availability of fixed and mobile broadband services.

You can share your experience on a fairly basic complaint form. The form asks consumers to describe the problem in "no more than 3-5 sentences" and is open-ended in nature - in addition to (or instead of) speed and availability, you may want to complain about data limits and cost.

The FCC also launched a new Broadband Data Collection website, highlighting milestones and promising to keep consumers updated. The site also includes links to a variety of related resources, including an updated broadband map.