People living on the fringes of downtown Chattanooga might remember the days when they cursed dial-up Internet and called about once a month to get yet another promise from the local cable company that high-speed cable lines would soon reach their neighborhood. A few years later, many of us did a repeat of those monthly calls as we sat on the waiting list for truly fast EPB fiber.
But now, even as we enjoy gigabit per-second Internet service, our neighbors just across county lines are still waiting. And begging.
On Thursday the Federal Communications Commission agreed to let EPB, a city-owned power and Internet service distributor, expand service beyond its initial footprint.
Critics say government shouldn’t have an unfair advantage to compete against private enterprise. But private enterprise has had years to step up and offer service in these outlying areas.
Instead, they were lobbying state governments to create miles of red tape designed to limit competition from any enterprise — government or otherwise. Rather than being innovative, these cable companies were intent on empire building.
It’s certain that this EPB ruling, like the separate-but-related net neutrality ruling, will play out in courts.
And it’s a pity that cable providers didn’t spend their exorbitant profits on expansion and customer service first, rather than on lobbying and attorneys.