The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Christopher Mitchell
612-379-3815 x209
christopher@newrules.org

Institute for Local Self-Reliance Congratulates Chattanooga for Fastest Broadband Network in United States

The Electric Power Board (EPB) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has
announced a citywide 1 gigabit per second (1 Gbps) broadband tier, by
far the fastest citywide broadband tier available in the U.S. By the
end of the year, 170,000 households and businesses in the region will
have access to the fastest speeds available - at affordable rates.

Christopher Mitchell, the Director of the Telecommunications as
Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR),
recently visited Chattanooga to tour and discuss their community-owned
fiber network.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.

The Electric Power Board (EPB) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has
announced a citywide 1 gigabit per second (1 Gbps) broadband tier, by
far the fastest citywide broadband tier available in the U.S. By the
end of the year, 170,000 households and businesses in the region will
have access to the fastest speeds available - at affordable rates.

Christopher Mitchell, the Director of the Telecommunications as
Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR),
recently visited Chattanooga to tour and discuss their community-owned
fiber network.

Mitchell put the announcement in perspective, "Earlier this year,
Google announced they were going to build a 1 Gbps network and several
of the largest telecom companies in the country laughed at them,
saying it was too difficult. Almost one year later, Chattanooga built
such a network before Google decided with whom to partner."

The network will leave no one behind; even the most rural areas served
by EPB will have access to the same speeds as those in the city.
Entrepreneurs in rural Tennessee will pay far less for far greater
speeds than even those in Silicon Valley.

"While the FCC and national media focus on broadband networks run by
massive private sector companies, the fastest and most affordable
broadband in America is quietly offered by community networks in
pockets scattered around the country," according to Mitchell.

Christopher Mitchell's comprehensive report on community broadband
networks, Breaking the Broadband Monopoly: How Communities Are
Building the Broadband Networks They Need, is available as a pdf here:
https://www.muninetworks.org/reports/breaking-broadband-monopoly

The Institute's mission is to provide innovative strategies, working models and timely information to support environmentally sound and equitable community development. To this end, ILSR works with citizens, activists, policymakers and entrepreneurs to design systems, policies and enterprises that meet local or regional needs; to maximize human, material, natural and financial resources; and to ensure that the benefits of these systems and resources accrue to all local citizens.