EPB announced today that it will complete its fiber-optic connections to all of Chattanooga, East Ridge and Red Bank by the end of the month and extend its new video, Internet and phone system to all 145,000 of its electric customers by the end of the year.
Utility President Harold DePriest said EPB is completing installation of its fiber-optic service two years ahead of its original schedule, in part because of federal stimulus funds granted for the project.
By the end of 2010, Mr. DePriest said, EPB should have "smart" electric meters for power control on more than 30,000 homes and be connected for fiber-optic video or high-speed Internet services to more than 20,000 homes.
EPB also announced today it will increase the speed of its residential Internet service to 150 megabits per second.
"We will have the fastest municipal fiber-optic system in the country," Mr. DePriest said.
For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.