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.