The Electric Power Board plans to roll out its Fiber program in late-May if its infrastructure and telecommunications services pass performance tests, beginning in mid to late-April. EPB will begin a trial program in neighborhoods with volunteer testers living in North Chattanooga, Red Bank, and the central downtown district, including: St. Elmo, Highland Park, and Alton Park. Lacie Newton, EPB Corporate Communications, states, "Once we are 100% positive of the performance of our fiber optic services, we will begin our roll out to residential and business customers. We are hoping that roll out will occur in late May."
EPB Fiber will include high-speed internet, cable, and telephone services for residential and business customers in the greater Chattanooga area. The telecom service will transmit digital data across a $230 million fiber infrastructure that will also double as a Smart Grid for a more efficient, electric system. EPB will offer the Fiber telecom service to its entire 600 square mile service area, serving 167,000 customers in less than five years time. Anticipating the upcoming EPB cable service, Comcast announced its World of More program to offer more HD content, higher internet speeds, and more channels, exclusively in the Chattanooga market, last week. For more information on EPB's Fiber to the Home initiative, please visit http://epb.net.
David Morton
0_o on Feb. 25, 2009
I wonder how long it will take to hook up all the slummy apartments in Redbank, I need my sweet, sweet data.
Anonymous christian on Feb. 25, 2009
To hell with Comcast, I hope they go bankrupt! Why has it taken this long for Chat govt. to untangle the ever entangling grip of large media companies. They don't serve our needs; that's why de-regulation is awesome. Although a dirty word in the housing market, it helps customers with CHOICES in the local market. Now if only AT&T offers a lower rate than either of them, we'll have a more respectable rate for cable here in Chat.
mwillingham on Feb. 26, 2009
Why would you want a company to go bankrupt? How does that help anyone?
Stephen42 on Feb. 26, 2009
How can someone get on the list as a volunteer tester?
David Morton on Feb. 26, 2009
@Stephen42 - In October, EPB went public asking for volunteers to participate in the trial. From the 700 applicants, they selected residents centered around the two existing super nodes.
There is a chance that they may seek more testers in the neighborhoods mentioned above, or possibly in other areas. Anyone wanting to get in on this second group, can submit your name at http://epb.net/fiber and click on the link that says 'tell us what you think.'
It's my impression that they are set on testers, but it never hurts to try.
Joe Lance on Feb. 26, 2009
Someone suggested to me that people could ask via petition and submit, say, 100 signatures to EPB that ask for the earliest inclusion possible in a given neighborhood.
The percentage of those who signed the petition, who would at least consider signing up for the service, has to be signficant enough for EPB to take notice, I would think.
Chattanooga Blogging on Feb. 27, 2009
Comcast makes so much money, which flows back to the corporation. They are not headquartered in Tennessee, but Philly, PA. EPB is local. Buy local, support the local economy.
cmwillis on March 3, 2009
"Fiber Optics is like Niagara Falls!"
Competition should be good for prices right? Let consumers decide. Any word on prices for data/phone/net? Will power bill be rolled into it?
David Morton on March 3, 2009
Pricing hasn't been finalized, yet. We're still waiting on EPB to make that announcement.
They expect prices to be "5-15% lower than traditional pricing." I took that to me mean 5-15% less than Comcast/BellSouth services. If you bundle services (i.e. phone/data, data/cable, etc.) you will receive a lower rate as well.
KennyDT on March 9, 2009
I am so happy about this. I hope like hell the Hamilton place area gets it soon. I alos hope like hell they don't have bandwidth limits as far as how much you download like Comcast. I know 250 gigs is a lot for a lot of people... but in my house, i have 4 computers. 2 for my sons, 1 for me, 1 for the wife. my wife is from ukraine and streams television shows from an internet service we pay for in her native language. My 2 kids play games, stream music, youtube. I do the same. Throw in an XBOX 360, TIVO, Slingbox, and Wii... we come close every month and i really have to monitor it. With Fiber, it is supposed to be your own dedicated connection not shared by anyone so i see no reason why the would impose download limits. I really hope that is the case. My new 65 inch LCD wants HD movies.
David Morton on March 9, 2009
From the EPB Fiber FAQ:
"We will likely offer several different tiers for customers to choose from, ranging from 10 up to 50 Mbps. All customers will have dedicated bandwidth which means that it isn't shared with other customers, and the customer who is paying for the connection is always getting the speed they subscribe to. Also, their Internet connections will be symmetrical; in other words you will be able to send and receive data at the same time at the same high speed."
They also address the timeframe for when their entire service area will receive fiber:
http://www.epb.net/fiber/
(Select 'Frequently Asked Questions.')
facebook-871955013 on May 27, 2009
I remember when I first got broadband 1.5mbps DSL, before Comcast's cable was available. I also remember how Bellsouth and Comcast both said (paraphrased) "With the money we will get from broadband fees now we will in a few years time have laid fiber for all of America and will offer ethernet speeds (100mbps) and beyond".
That was in 2000... I give the telecom companies an F on delivering for the consumers and I think Comcast's actions to stop EPB from competing signals an obvious monopoly that must be neutralized.