Up to 1 million US locations could still lack broadband service and may qualify for additional federal funding, a senior NTIA official said on Wednesday in Washington.

Brooke Donilon, chief of staff at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, put the figure forward during a Wireless Infrastructure Association panel on Oct. 14, 2026. She said the agency estimates that as many as one million locations remain in need of broadband service as the government prepares to identify areas eligible for further subsidy rounds.

The estimate matters because it signals federal money is still on the table. It also signals the process is stalled, at least partly, on data rather than on appropriations.

What is holding up the process?

The FCC's broadband coverage map. Donilon said NTIA is waiting for an updated version of the Federal Communications Commission map before it can begin working with states to pinpoint locations that remain unserved.

That sequencing gives the map a gatekeeping role. Until the FCC publishes revised coverage data, NTIA cannot move to the state-level identification stage, and states cannot start drawing up lists of locations that might receive funding.

The coverage map has long been the contested foundation of US broadband policy. Federal subsidy programs rely on it to determine which homes and businesses count as served, underserved or unserved, and carriers have repeatedly challenged its accuracy in past funding rounds. An updated map directly changes which areas are eligible for money.

What does this change for operators and states?

For carriers, the estimate defines the size of the remaining addressable opportunity. If NTIA's upper-bound figure holds, up to 1 million locations could anchor future funding windows, whether through existing programs or new allocations Congress may set.

For states, the practical implication is procedural. Each state will work with NTIA to identify unserved locations once the map update arrives, which means state broadband offices face a compressed identification and challenge process after publication rather than before it.

Donilon's figure of "up to" 1 million is an estimate, not a verified count. The final number of eligible locations will depend on what the updated FCC map shows and on how states and providers contest its claims during any challenge process.

What comes next?

The immediate milestone is the FCC's release of the updated coverage map. Once that happens, NTIA plans to begin working with states to identify locations that remain unserved and may qualify for additional funding, according to Donilon's remarks at the panel.

No date for the map release accompanied the announcement, leaving operators and state offices waiting on the FCC before the next funding cycle takes shape.