Communitywide fiber broadband infrastructure can lead to improved economic development opportunities and fast, reliable Internet service, and support “smart grid” technology, reducing electrical outages and powering next-generation computing.
A new report by EPB, a municipal utility that serves a 600-square-mile area including Chattanooga, Tenn., and surrounding parts of Hamilton and neighboring counties, found the economic impact of EPB’s high-speed fiber-optic broadband infrastructure has exceeded $5.3 billion and helped to generate more than 10,400 jobs in the region, since the system was launched 15 years ago.
Chattanooga made headlines more than a decade ago with its “Gig City” moniker as the city became more forward-looking, turning to the possibilities of technology to both improve the lives of residents and signal to the wider world its aim to compete in a digitally connected economy…