Comcast brings high-speed services through its fiber optic networks to Chattanooga, the State of Tennessee in the United States. It becomes news of interest because it was seven years ago the cable service provider Comcast went to court to stop fiber optic network construction started by EPB (Electric Power Board). Now it is Comcast’s turn to build fiber optic networks in Chattanooga to offer high-speed internet services to its subscribers.
Seven years before, that is, in April 2008 Comcast sued the Chattanooga Electric Power Board (EPB) in an attempt to prevent EPB from building fiber optic network. EPB was planning to use its infrastructure to deploy fiber optic networks to serve residential customers. The speeds offered by cable TV service providers were very slow and EPB thought of building high-speed networks so that service providers can utilize the networks to offer high bandwidth services.
Comcast claimed that EPB illegally subsidized the buildout with ratepayer funds. The claims did not survive in the court and it quickly lost the case. EPB constructed its own fiber optic network eventually and started offering Internet, TV, and phone service. After EPB launched in 2009, incumbents Comcast and AT&T started upgrading their services,
After a long campaign attempting to block the city of Chattanooga, TN’s efforts to implement a fiber-optic internet service, Comcast is now offering its brand high powered service, called ‘Gigabit Pro.’ Gigabit Pro will be the fastest internet available to residential customers in Chattanooga as per the claims made by company officials. Comcast definitely had tried to deliver services to the satisfaction of its subscribers. The current construction of fiber optic networks in Tennessee follows years’ worth of investments the
company has made to consistently deliver the fastest in-home and Wi-Fi speeds to the most homes and businesses in their markets.
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with an estimated population of around 172,000. It is the seat of Hamilton County. Located in southeastern Tennessee in East Tennessee, on Chickamauga Lake and Nickajack Lake, which are both part of the Tennessee River, Chattanooga lies approximately 120 miles (190 km) to the northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, 120 miles (190 km) to the southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, about 135 miles (217 km) to the southeast of Nashville, Tennessee, about 120 miles (190 km) to the northeast of Huntsville, Alabama, and about 148 miles (238 km) to the northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. Chattanooga abuts the Georgia border and is where three major interstate highways meet:
Comcast is committed to the rollout of high-speed service at speeds of up to 2 Gbps, to areas in California, Atlanta, and the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm areas in Florida. The company estimates that it will roll out its 2 Gbps plan to 18 million homes across the US by the end of this year.
The Electric Power Board could not expand service to neighboring areas since the law in the state of Tennessee allowed it provide the high-speed internet to customers within its electric service territory. The Electric Power Board petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for permission to expand beyond its network. EPB was allowed to do so this February through a court order. Instead of wasting time for further legal action, Comcast is now responding by offering their own fiber optic services. Up to 200,000 Chattanooga customers will now have the option of using the Gigabit Pro network to meet their high-speed Internet needs from June this year.
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