By the end of the year, EPB Fiber Optics expects to offer the fastest Internet service in the United States.
The city-owned utility announced today it will boost its broadband service to 1 Gigabit throughout its service territory by the end of 2010. Such a connection will be 200 times faster than the average broadband speed in America and the fastest of any U.S. city.
Only Hong Kong and a few other cities in the world offer such service, making Chattanooga "one of the leading cities in the world in its digital capabilities," Mayor Ron Littlefield said.
EPB will use Alcatel-Lucent's gigabit passive optical network technology for the service, which will be available this fall to more than 100,000 homes and businesses.
"Chattanooga is light years ahead when it comes to providing ultra fast broadband," said Tom Wilson, president of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
The new high-speed service won't come cheap, however. EPB plans to charge $350 a month for the new service.
"We don't know how to price a gig," EPB President Harold DePriest told the New York Times.
Details in Tuesday's Times Free Press