Why a Tennessee town has the fastest internet (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

Today's must-read

The south-eastern Tennessee town of Chattanooga has some of the fastest internet connection speeds in the world, thanks to a fibre-optic network installed by the government-owned electric company, EPB.

The town, with a 2012 population of just more than 171,000, has used its internet speeds of over 1 gigabit per second to attract new businesses, including five venture capital funds with 2014 investment capital of more than $50m (£30m), according to the Guardian.

Chattanooga's success is a testament to the power of government infrastructure investment, writes Daily Kos blogger Steven D.

It's also, he says, a threat to the private telecommunications monopolies, which are content to offer lower levels of service, "slowly draining the lifeblood out of our nation even as they steal whatever is left in our pocketbook".

He contends that private-sector malaise and greed are part of the reason why US internet speeds currently ranks behind 30 countries, including South Korea, Romania and most of Europe.
***
more interesting details at http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-29038650

[BeyondGeography]

1. Drove thru there a couple of weeks ago and it is a beautiful place, too

Go to the Hickory Pit out there on Ringgold if you need a BBQ fix.

This is obviously working for them. The first thing you see when you pull in to Riverfront Ave. is a giant Alstom turbine plant that looks to be brand new. Lots of new investments have been made downtown...I could easily hang there for a couple of days or spend a week exploring the region with Chattanooga as a base.

[valerief]

2. Town? Hey, BBC, it's a city. nt

[A Little Weird]

3. This is what we need nationwide

The internet is an important part of our infrastructure now. Of course that's hopelessly optimistic when they won't even take care of our existing infrastructure like roads and bridges.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. The federal gov. made $7.5 billion available for this.

Of course it has been quickly scooped up by Hughes Net and AT&T, el. al., turned into fiber optic to nowhere serving no one. I know because it is under the ground across the street from me and stops. No one in the neighborhood can connect to it and it has been there for years now. I was told by the telephone tech that there aren't enough homes here to justify connection. More wasted tax money.

[littlemissmartypants]

5. Excellent post, eppur_se_muova. Thanks. nt

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, eppur_se_muova.

[freethought]

7. WOW! Looks like ALEC let their guard down on this one.

Here in North Carolina, ALEC had their fingerprints all over a bill that didn't make local government-owned internet service illegal BUT did erect legal roadblocks so that it may as well be illegal. It sailed through state congress
Our governor then was Bev Purdue, who didn't sign the bill but didn't veto it either. As a result the bill became the law of the state by default. Two towns, I believe, were able to install these networks and keep them. How generous.

This actually supports the view that the internet should be more of a public utility than some corporate run service.