A network operations technician works in EPB's state-of-the-art Distribution Center designed to compliment the citywide Smart Grid and fiber optic network. EPB Fiber was rated as the best television service provider and the fourth best internet provider among all cable companies in the country, according to Consumer Reports magazine.
The Chattanooga municipal utility earned top ratings among Consumer Reports readers in an industry where most major cable TV providers received poor grades from consumers.
Jim Wilcox, senior electronics editor at Consumer Reports, said EPB Fiber and Google Fiber - both fiber optic networks offering gigabit-per-second internet speed - were the standouts in an industry otherwise disliked by many of its users. Both EPB and Google Fiber earned high scores for overall satisfaction, reliability and equipment, and were the only two of the more than 30 providers in the ratings to get better than the lowest score for value.
Wilcox said most pay TV providers continue to do "a poor job of leaving their customers feeling like their service is worth the money," including some of the country's largest operators such as Comcast, Spectrum (Charter, Time Warner Cable), and Cox Communications Cable.
EPB spokesman John Pless said the favorable customer ratings for EPB underscore the value the municipal electric utility has tried to provide since it launched its video, phone and internet service with fiber optic links in 2010 as a byproduct of EPB's smart grid technology.
"We're certainly grateful for our customers giving us such high marks and we're glad they are realizing the value that we hoped that they would from our products," Pless said Tuesday.
EPB launched its fiber optic network nearly a decade ago and has captured more than 90,000 customers to one of its internet, television or telephone services.
But even EPB could be hurt in the future by consumers cutting the cord with cable providers for television service to turning to internet providers of such content.
"Though consumer dissatisfaction with their cable companies has been simmering for quite some time, it's now starting to boil over in terms of actual cord-cutting from traditional pay-TV providers," Wilcox said. "The good news is that there are now more alternatives, so it's possible for consumers to get the shows and movies they want, often at a lower price than a traditional pay TV plan."
Wilcox said that discontent with traditional providers, combined with new online options, are prompting more Americans to experiment with cord cutting to get a better deal. Nearly 800,00 Americans dropped their traditional pay TV package in the first three months of 2017, according to the research firm MoffettNathanson.
"For the better part of 15 years, pundits have predicted that cord cutting was the future," Craig Moffett, senior research analyst, told Consumer Reports. "Well, the future has arrived."
There are now several new online streaming services that are designed to replicate a traditional pay-TV package, including Direct TV Now, Hulu With Live TV, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue, and YouTube TV. Hulu With Live TV, for example, offers about 50 channels, including major networks in some areas and sports channels such as CBS Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports, for a starting price of $40 per month.
Even cord-cutters, however, still need internet access. Google Fiber is the top-rated provider in CR's ratings, the lone company with Excellent marks for both reliability and value. But in general, fiber providers did better than cable companies, especially larger ones such as Spectrum and Comcast, which were in the bottom half of the rankings.
The full Consumer Reports ratings of TV, internet, and bundled service providers, along with a guide to navigating the various cable replacement services, is available at CR.org and in the August 2017 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, on newsstands June 29.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.