FCC Data API

fcc.gov · Government

Government No Auth Free & Open Government Telecommunications Government Telecommunications Open Data

Access FCC license data, broadband availability maps, antenna tower registrations, and broadcast station information. Useful for telecom compliance, coverage analysis, and spectrum management.

Authentication

No authentication requiredFree to use with no key needed.

Sample Requests

GET Get broadband availability by address

Returns Census block information for an address — used to look up broadband availability data.

https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find?format=json&latitude=38.9072&longitude=-77.0369

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find?format=json&latitude=38.9072&longitude=-77.0369"

import requests
params = {
    "format": "json",
    "latitude": "38.9072",
    "longitude": "-77.0369"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find');
url.searchParams.set('format', 'json');
url.searchParams.set('latitude', '38.9072');
url.searchParams.set('longitude', '-77.0369');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("format", "json")
	q.Set("latitude", "38.9072")
	q.Set("longitude", "-77.0369")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "format" => "json",
  "latitude" => "38.9072",
  "longitude" => "-77.0369"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find?" . http_build_query([
    "format" => "json",
    "latitude" => "38.9072",
    "longitude" => "-77.0369"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

No API key needed
Browse FCC APIs at https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/developers
GET https://data.fcc.gov/api/block/2020/find?latitude={lat}&longitude={lon}&format=json
Use the returned block FIPS code to query FCC broadband data
Antenna tower data: https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsApi/searchLicense.jsp

What can you build with FCC Data API?

FCC Data API is a Government API. Developers commonly use government APIs for:

surfacing public datasets in citizen-facing apps
building transparency and civic engagement tools
accessing legislation, court records, and official data
powering research and journalism tools
creating compliance and regulatory monitoring dashboards

No authentication required. This API is open — no signup or key needed. Ideal for quick prototypes and public-facing features. FCC Data API is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide

Open documentation ↗