Starlink, Verizon, and T-Mobile made shaky claims on FCC coverage map – February 13, 2023 at 05:14PM

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Andrey Denisyuk)

Multiple Internet service providers have submitted false availability data to the federal government for a map that will be used to determine which parts of the US get access to a $42.45 billion broadband fund. We wrote about Comcast’s false coverage claims last week, and this article will detail false or at least questionable coverage claims from SpaceX’s Starlink division and the wireless home Internet divisions at Verizon and T-Mobile.

Some false claims are easy to prove by looking at the providers’ availability websites. SpaceX claims to serve virtually the whole US on the Federal Communications Commission map but the Starlink website’s map shows the service has a waitlist in huge portions of the country.

We heard from two people who successfully challenged Starlink’s service claims at their homes, one in Harrietta, Michigan, and another in West Chester, Pennsylvania. We verified on the FCC map that, in both cases, these residents’ challenges were upheld because it’s not possible to get Starlink service at their addresses yet. But each challenge only corrects the false data for a single address, and Starlink still claims to serve the surrounding residences on the FCC map.