This is a map of EPB’s service area. Click on map to enlarge it.
But there’s a caveat: the price tag is $350 per month.
On Monday EPB announced the only 1-gigabit-per-second broadband service in the U.S. for its residential and business customers.
EPB’s service area covers 170,000 homes and businesses and 600 square miles in Chattanooga, Hamilton County (Tenn.) and parts of five other counties in southeast Tennessee.
The service area also covers three counties in northwest Georgia, including Walker and Catoosa.
Customers in Rossville, Lookout Mountain and Flintstone in Walker County and customers in Lakeview in Catoosa County are in EPB’s service area and will have access to the new service.
The new network will accommodate speeds of up to 1 gigabit-per-second (Gbps), which is more than 200 times faster than the current national download speed average.
"This groundbreaking commercial offering creates tremendous opportunities for residents and businesses in the region," said Harold DePriest, EPB president and CEO.
Lacie Newton, supervisor of public relations for EPB, said access to the service is part of EPB’s new fiber optics grid allowing “Fi-Speed” internet service.
According to the EPB website the grid is a “modernized, 100 percent fiber optic infrastructure capable of transmitting an infinite amount of data.”
There are four Fi-Speed services available starting at around $58 a month: Fi-Speed Internet 30 which allows 30-megabits-per-second (Mbps) download and upload speeds; Fi-Speed Internet 50 (50 Mbps); Fi-Speed Internet 100 (100 Mbps); and Fi-Speed Internet 1,000, which offers the 1 Gbps service.
The Fi-Speed 1,000 service is powered by Alcatel-Lucent's gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology.
Alcatel-Lucent is a worldwide leader in fixed broadband access, supporting the largest mass deployments of video, voice and data services.
Newton said as EPB lays its grid through 2010, customers will be notified when they have access to Fi-Speed service.
Its as if the EPB believes we have a great economy where everyone is making more money than they need and they're looking for a place to blow all their extra money.
Oh well, I just saw a headline the other day where some restaurant somewhere is offering a $150 sandwich. Yes, two pieces of bread with some meat and veggies between it for $150. I found it so offensive I didn't bother reading the article.
Oh well, Harlem voted for Charlie Rangel last night, common sense is dead.
They do have the access that you desire. They can buy up a controlling stake in a small local phoneco and get access to REA (Rural Electification Administration) subsidized loans from Uncle Sugar. They have been able to do this since 1949.
Now. If we could just get competition in local telephone service so that we do not have to pay RTC for a useless landline in order to get DSL or other internet service. "Dry loop" or "naked" DSL would allow us to cut our phone bills in half and have better service . I can't wait to ditch the landline because it's mostly a tool that telemarketers and various scammers use to annoy me now.But with a monopoly in place , it may be awhile.