Building on its track-record of delivering the world’s fastest internet speeds, EPB is launching the nation’s first community-wide 25-Gig internet service — available to all residential and commercial customers over EPB’s 100% fiber optic network.
Dave Wade, President, EPB, announced the launch on Wednesday at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Convention Center alongside community partners that made this innovation possible including Tim Kelly, Mayor, City of Chattanooga; Jim Coppinger, Mayor, Hamilton County; Barry White, President, Chattanooga Tourism Co.; and Christy Gillenwater, President, CEO, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
“These kinds of partnerships are what make Chattanooga and Hamilton County so unique,” Gillenwater says.
“We can’t wait to see the impact this investment will have on our community. Especially as Chattanooga continues to pave the way forward for logistics and entrepreneurs in tech and beyond.”
Thanks to a partnership between Hamilton County, the City of Chattanooga and EPB, Chattanooga’s convention center will be the world’s first to offer 25-Gig service.
“EPB has continuously pushed the boundaries of what a utility can do for a city, and by launching 25-gigabit per second internet service community-wide, we have solidified Chattanooga’s competitive advantage as the premier destination for the country’s emerging knowledge innovation economy,” Kelly says.
“This new, incredible resource will not only attract businesses, entrepreneurs and top talent from across the globe, it will also increase quality of life for the tens of thousands of Chattanoogans who rely on high quality, top-speed internet for remote work. Simply said, this is an unprecedented boon for our local economy.”
Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga each invested $151,000 in infrastructure funding for a total of $302,000 toward installing new networking equipment and Wi-Fi access points throughout the convention center — as well as covering much of the costs associated with providing multi-gig connectivity over the next five years.
“The new 25 Gig internet service gives our Convention Center a major competitive advantage in drawing business conferences, conventions, e-gaming competitions and other events that bring tens of thousands of visitors and many millions of dollars in spending into our local economy,” Coppinger says.
“Throughout my time as Mayor, I’ve placed a primary focus on supporting new economic opportunities for the people of Hamilton County. I’m proud to stand with the Hamilton County Commission, the City of Chattanooga, the Chattanooga Tourism Co., the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and EPB in launching this new job creation tool which will serve our community for many years to come.”
This launch was made possible by EPB’s multi-year effort to upgrade the region’s community-wide network with the latest optical signaling technology, along with deploying Nokia’s symmetrical 25G Passive Optical Network (PON) technology. Through this joint effort, 25-Gig internet service is now available anywhere across EPB’s network.
“Nokia and EPB have a proven track record over the past two decades of bringing fiber access innovations to meet the market needs. This announcement highlights how fiber broadband services are evolving beyond residential broadband,” David Eckard, CTO North America, Nokia says.
With the world’s fastest internet and the nation’s most advanced smart city infrastructure, Chattanooga continues to be America’s best place for companies and entrepreneurs to do business.
Vibrant local sectors like education, logistics and healthcare will be able to use this new technology which could also serve as a valuable resource for attracting and retaining top talent in Chattanooga.
Watch EPB’s full announcement, below.
Learn more about EPB’s new 25 Gig internet service at epb.com/gig25.
Read the press release, here.
Read what publications are saying about EPB’s 25-Gig service:
