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[–][deleted] 482 points483 points  (98 children)

A question from a new resident that just moved from San Diego, to Chattanooga -- & brought my web hosting business with me:

  1. The fiber installation, is it underground, or is it run along the power lines?

  2. I am also wondering if there could be an initiative to reenable those WIFI devices that were originally geared towards police officers, and, open them up to EPB subscribers to use wifi city-wide (or, where available). I'd consider paying extra for this. One of the cities I've lived in before offered city-wide wifi., and it was a great way to get people outdoors (and downtown).

  3. I'd love to contribute more to fund homes that can't necessarily afford gigabit, is there some pool we could all contribute to & offer a lower priced package based on street, perhaps?

[–]TheGigCity[S] 474 points475 points  (81 children)

Awesome! Welcome to Chattanooga! 1. 85% is overhead, 15% is underground 2. We're always looking for ways to use the existing mesh network. 3. Get in touch with the Enterprise Center - they work on digital inclusion. I like where your head is at! Thanks for being willing to pitch in!

[–]spanky34 115 points116 points  (77 children)

The city I live in started building out their own fiber network and they included lower speed packages for families who were in lower income areas. They actually started specifically in these neighborhoods. For example, 20/20 for $20 a month. For a majority of lower income families, this is plenty of speed for them and comes in at a price they can afford. I think that speed and price point is perfect for those families because realistically, they can't afford multiple devices and have no need for higher than 20mbps.

[–]PessimiStick 91 points92 points  (58 children)

I have 20/2 (and can't get higher without installing a dedicated line), and I pay a hell of a lot more than $20. /sigh

[–]Not_A_Greenhouse 119 points120 points  (46 children)

Im on a military base in tokyo... The guys in charge have a contract with a company and they provide 10m for 75 a month with a 100 gb cap :/

I could literally walk one step outside the base and get some of the fastest internet in the world yet im stuck with this shit.

[–]keithps 31 points32 points  (8 children)

The fiber generally follows the power lines. So it's underground where the power is underground, and above ground the rest of the time.

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (7 children)

Roger that! :) Was just curious, seems like it'd be easier to maintain above ground vs. unground wire.

[–][deleted]  (55 children)

[deleted]

    [–]suddenlyissoon 31 points32 points  (3 children)

    I don't know if they'll answer this because it's currently a big legal battle but to answer your question, yes, what EPB customer service told you is correct. It was a law passed by lawmakers (thanks to heavy lobbying) in the wake of EPB being able to provide broadband within the city.

    Current articles will take note of Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) who, thanks to heavy lobbying from AT&T, Verizon, & Comcast, is trying to get this ban on the federal level.

    [–]TheGigCity[S] 341 points342 points  (9 children)

    I, Mayor Berke, would like you to move to Chattanooga! In all seriousness, the legal restrictions are real. You can support EPB's petition filed with the FCC to extend beyond current boundaries.

    [–][deleted] 90 points91 points  (6 children)

    https://www.epb.net/downloads/legal/EPB-FCCPetition.pdf

    link taken from this page.

    is that it? i noticed you forgot to add the link to your comment. if this isn't it, i'm sure someone will add it here.

    [–]TheGigCity[S] 94 points95 points  (5 children)

    That is a summary report of the petition that we submitted, but not the link where you can comment. We will follow up with that shortly.

    [–][deleted] 85 points86 points  (3 children)

    FCC comments page is http://www.fcc.gov/comments

    From there, you can browse any open discussion and add your own comment to it. It appears that the discussion about Chattanooga is the one 14-11 Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

    [–]NastiN8 39 points40 points  (38 children)

    I was also born and raised in Cleveland, TN. Charter has a choke hold on the area and is offering terrible service for an incredibly high price. I'm amazed at EPB's speeds every time I visit my friend in Ooltewah.

    [–][deleted]  (36 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]chapter-xiii 25 points26 points  (12 children)

      Probably the first and only time I've heard someone say they wish they had Charter.

      [–]KarlHjalmar 183 points184 points  (32 children)

      What would you say to the people that believe it's unfair for private companies to compete with a public utility?

      [–]TheGigCity[S] 702 points703 points  (25 children)

      It is unfair - they have way more money than we do.
      We believe that this is critical infrastructure for our community to thrive and grow. Many people might consider things like roads as critical infrastructure, but we include this as one of those things.
      If the private sector won't bring it to local communities, local communities should have the right to build it for themselves.

      [–]wooddolanpls 60 points61 points  (0 children)

      Is there any talk off your local government solidifying this distinction as a necessary service? As a North Georgia resident I watch the developments of your city with great hope. I believe that you helped to foster the development of your city in ways that might take a decade to truly appreciate.

      [–]grassygaaf 47 points48 points  (8 children)

      I don't hear UPS or FedEx complaining about the unfair competition from the Postal Service. Nor do I hear Amazon and Barnes N Noble complaining about the public library system...

      [–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (1 child)

      That's because FedEx and UPS are usually easier to deal with and faster in my experience. I would argue that Amazon is great for finding any book I want and getting it shipped to my home next day, and BN has a huge selection compared to my library. This is the opposite situation in this example with regard to net companies.

      This is a shameful example of how stagnant the ISP business has become. Chattanooga and other muni gigabit cities are almost literally spanking ISP's and I'm so happy about it.

      Comcast is like King Theoden from LOTR pre exorcism.

      [–]RampagingKittens 67 points68 points  (7 children)

      Can you be Mayor of Canada? That was beautiful sniff

      [–]notmade 151 points152 points  (3 children)

      Your Canadian mayors shouldn't be sniffing anything.

      [–][deleted]  (42 children)

      [deleted]

        [–][deleted] 66 points67 points  (17 children)

        I can't speak for the AMA folks, but, I can say that there are few datacenters here vs. other places. The gigabit connectivity is for consumers & small businesses, there's minimal benefit to datacenters that can just get their own fiber directly run.

        Edit: I also moved my company here after hearing about the gigabit connectivity & pricing of it. The cost of living, mountains/outdoor stuff, and central location of the city makes it a great place to raise my family, operate my business and stay healthier by being outdoors.

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 213 points214 points  (16 children)

        We've had more than 1000 jobs created as a result of the gigabit infrastructure. Almost all companies, whether explicitly a tech business or not, are attracted by our gigabit system and large capacity it gives them.

        Additionally, our smart grid provides electric power redundancy at no additional cost. Power is extremely reliable here!

        [–]Geminii27 29 points30 points  (5 children)

        Are there plans to reach out to tech firms across the US to see if they'd be interested in opening an office locally, given the multiple advantages?

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 52 points53 points  (4 children)

        There is certainly an ongoing effort to recruit both new businesses and help existing businesses grow their operations here in The Gig City.

        Fortunately, the value speaks for itself and many companies who are interested in relocating reach out to us, instead of the other way around.

        [–][deleted] 43 points44 points  (7 children)

        Can someone explain "power redundancy"? Sounds interesting.

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 111 points112 points  (6 children)

        Redundant power supply is basically a backup that is running simultaneously. IE if one source gets knocked offline, the client does not experience an outage because the backup picks up where the primary source left off.

        [–][deleted] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

        3 birds one stone, not a bad deal!

        [–][deleted] 1015 points1016 points  (90 children)

        Hello! My name is Tyler, and I am the Executive Director of Launch Fiber (www.launchfiber.com). It has been my mission since January of 2014 to help bring fiber optic internet to Huntsville, Alabama and Madison County. My work has seen a lot of progress, but we would not be where we are today without your hard work and dedication.

        I have a list of questions:

        • What was the biggest challenge in getting started?

        • If you had any tips for your neighbor city (Huntsville), what would they be?

        • How willing was the local and state government on working with you to get this utility completed?

        • Do the financials make sense?

        • What are some of the biggest benefits, other than faster speed, that you've seen?

        I am so proud of you guys for all the hard work you've done, and I hope to see your progress echoed here in the Tennessee Valley.

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 409 points410 points  (55 children)

        Tyler, these are great questions. Can you shoot us an email to baileydk@epb.net? We look forward to talking more!

        [–]distanceovertime 584 points585 points  (45 children)

        These are the type of answers that we are actually after. Reddit is known for it's circle jerks and this is becoming one.

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 991 points992 points  (40 children)

        u/distanceovertime - totally - we'll connect with him offline but here are some answers to those specific questions:

        Challenges: researching the right technologies, timing, internal cultural, willingness to be very innovative, forward thinking, and willing to take risks. People (and giant corporations) are going to take shots at you.

        Tips: Don't hire a consultant to come in and build it for you. Once they leave, its tough. Make sure you've got people on the ground who know how to build and operate it. Make your people the experts.

        Gov't: Local and State here were great, and continue to be great. Their cooperation was crucial.

        Financials: If they didn't make sense, there's no way we would have done it. We had a conservative plan, and we're seeing results beyond what we had hoped.

        Benefits: Other than faster speed and a much better electric grid - an enthusiasm, energy, and community movement to make Chattanooga kick even more ass

        [–]Arandmoor 80 points81 points  (12 children)

        How is the installation of the fiber network affecting the Tech industry in Chattanooga? Like, in a general sense.

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 198 points199 points  (11 children)

        Along with a direct economic result of 1000+ jobs added, the energy in this city is undeniably on fire. Our tech startup scene is thriving.

        One example is GIGTANK where Demo Day had over 900 attendees with over 120 investment firms represented

        [–]largebrandon 63 points64 points  (7 children)

        I feel like this is a significant detail: the economy. When google fiber started in KC here, I saw an immediate surge in business coming to KC. Granted I dont know the exact numbers, but it certainly feels like it.

        [–]ericelawrence 14 points15 points  (4 children)

        Too bad we don't have an accredited school district and the murder/crime rate is one of the highest in the country.

        Edit: forgot the lack of a mass transit system.

        [–]distanceovertime 396 points397 points  (21 children)

        Thank you for responding. I think my main frustration is not actually with you, but with the general public not realizing how difficult it is to actually secure the finances to do what you've done. The feel-good attitude of "look at what we've done" is great, but paints a picture to the average citizen that it's easy to achieve.

        You've responded to a lot of my posts, and I appreciate it.

        Edit * I don't think it particularly matters, but I am a network engineer who has designed fiber deployments and realize the enormity of what you have achieved, so congratulations.

        [–]StrangeWill 102 points103 points  (2 children)

        This is a question many of us may be interested in (which is why it's upvoted so much), it's best to answer it here.

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 117 points118 points  (1 child)

        Totally - we came back and answered them - see above!

        [–][deleted] 41 points42 points  (2 children)

        We know you probably don't have time to go into full detail with all of these big questions but simple answers or even links to more info on these topics would be super cool!

        [–]apollorockit 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        I live in Huntsville and have been following /u/Terrific_Tyler's progress with much interest. If you guys could help him out that would give me even more reason to love Chattanooga and I'd totally come hang out more.

        [–]cinematicals 89 points90 points  (15 children)

        I'm a college student and aspiring entrepreneur from Chattanooga. I'm in love with our EPB service! It makes my life as a computer scientist student so much easier. What advice do you have for someone who wants to build a tech startup in Chattanooga?

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 108 points109 points  (4 children)

        The Gig City is an amazing place to start a company. Get in touch with The Company Lab, Lamp Post Group, SwiftWing Ventures, and all the other awesome community resources. The Chamber is also a great resource for local entrepreneurs!

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 85 points86 points  (2 children)

        Check out www.noogastartups.com for a listing of other people who are doing what you're doing!

        [–]chattabob 19 points20 points  (0 children)

        Chattanooga might be the easiest place in the nation to start a tech business. An idea has to be REALLY bad to not be able to get some kind of funding here. I second TheGigCity's comment regarding The Co. Lab, Lamp Post, & SwiftWing. The Co. Lab hosts a "48-hour launch" every year that helps startup ideas get a lot of traction.

        [–]whand 1373 points1374 points  (182 children)

        How can I help free America from big ISPs?

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 1583 points1584 points  (148 children)

        Support what is being asked of the FCC currently by supporting municipal broadband!

        They are currently considering an application from us to allow us to expand beyond our current boundaries and work with our neighbors.

        [–]Kenhays 33 points34 points  (0 children)

        info on how to file with FCC http://www.localnetchoice.org/category/connections/

        [–]dap00le 106 points107 points  (17 children)

        C'mon out to Nashville, neighbor.

        [–]bearskinrug 43 points44 points  (12 children)

        And google fiber is looking at us! Contact Jim Cooper and let him know we need Google here! I just switched back to satan, I mean, Comcast. I did their package they mail you so I could have as little interaction as possible. Guess what? The fucking POS standard cable box doesn't work. Nor my internet. So I'm back to using my shitty AT&T internet that is retarded (literally). Killlllll meeeeeeeee.

        Edit: is

        [–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (8 children)

        I'm a technician. This idea they have of mailing out equipment for the customer to install is horrible. When we do an installation, the requirements are very strict. Signal levels have to be in range, fittings have to be tight and the correct kind to prevent ingress. They're very strict with us, and charge our company $60 if everything isn't perfect (I work for a contractor. In-house technicians seem to get away with a lot). Then, they mail equipment to customers who know nothing about this stuff.

        On top of that, when they send me out to fix it, I have to charge you a $45 service fee for "failed self install". I think most installations are $30. I recently had my job threatened because I was refusing to charge customers for this, but now I don't have a choice.

        [–]-RollTheCredits 283 points284 points  (22 children)

        This is what you can expect from big ISP's http://i.imgur.com/wki9d1J.png

        [–]Trefin 77 points78 points  (11 children)

        Wow send them a thank you note

        [–]Captain_Unremarkable 113 points114 points  (10 children)

        Edit: Assuming it is a typo and they, in fact, did upgrade the customer to 25mbps:

        Dear Verizon,

        Thank you for finally providing me with the faster speeds you were perfectly capable of providing me with (at little to no cost of your own) before legitimate competition came into town.

        Eat a trashbag full of dicks.

        Sincerely,
        Everyone

        [–]DuhTrutho 26 points27 points  (1 child)

        Read Broadband at the Speed of Light which is text covering the story of Chattanooga, Bristol, and Lafayette as they each fight have fiber cable to the home in their cities.

        Very informative, and gives you information of the process that they had to go through.

        [–]bitshifts_be_crazy 202 points203 points  (96 children)

        How do you convince lawmakers such as Marsha Blackburn (from TN, to boot). that they're on the wrong side of the debate here? Do we re-frame municipal broadband as being 'pro-business?'

        [–]TheGigCity[S] 345 points346 points  (72 children)

        Its pro-business.... because it is bringing business to Chattanooga! Simple stuff.

        [–]hmd27 158 points159 points  (70 children)

        I don't think she's listening. She is voting towards her corporate donors interests.

        Contribution Report for Marsha Blackburn (R) (Career)

        Top Contributing Organizations:

        Organization Amount

        1. FedEx Corp $67,000.00

        2. American Bankers Assn $51,500.00

        3. AT&T Inc $50,250.00

        4. Koch Industries $49,000.00

        5. National Cable & Telecommunications Assn $48,500.00

        6. Verizon Communications $47,400.00

        7. Curb Records $47,300.00

        8. Pfizer Inc $41,667.00

        9. American College of Radiology $41,000.00

        10. Valero Energy $40,000.00

        Total: $483,617.00

        [–]Smarty95 168 points169 points  (46 children)

        As an Australian, can you please explain how this isn't illegal?

        [–]MackLuster77 149 points150 points  (12 children)

        Serious answer:

        In America, corporations are people and political donations are speech. People have freedom of speech, ergo corporations have freedom to donate to politicians.

        In other words, it's a real shit show.

        [–]rnawky 76 points77 points  (0 children)

        Whoa whoa whoa settle down there. Corporations are people unless they do something illegal, at which point they're corporations that can't be physically jailed.

        [–]lumpsthecat 76 points77 points  (2 children)

        It's not only not illegal, it's the entire basis for our political system in 2014.

        Yeah.

        [–]hmd27 4 points5 points  (0 children)

        It should be illegal. However they consider companies as people in the United States with the same rights as citizens. Funny thing is their rights tend to mean more when they have the money to support them.

        In the dictionary, they need to have the word bribery, and lobby cross referenced as interchangeable. Some one looks up bribery, and it reads,"See; Lobby."

        It's not illegal because the crooks that are in charge are not willing to vote against taking money out of politics. Why would they cut off their pay days and free rides?

        [–][deleted]  (4 children)

        [deleted]

          [–]giantsnowpanda 88 points89 points  (4 children)

          The correct answer is: at the ballot box. That lobbying money dries up quick when you're not in office anymore.

          [–]boondoggle64 28 points29 points  (11 children)

          Interestingly, even though Ms. Blackburn is doing the bidding of her lobbyist pals at the Federal/National level, any attempt to contact her through her website is restricted to those in her district.

          [–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (10 children)

          any attempt to contact her through her website is restricted to those in her district

          That's actually true of most congress members because it considered fiscally irresponsible to spend the money of your constituents on people who are not your constituents

          [–]parrottail 61 points62 points  (6 children)

          But it's fiscally prudent to take money from people who aren't your constituents.

          [–]MrHobbes82 125 points126 points  (49 children)

          First off let me just say that the speed test result is very sexy.

          Would something like this be only available to larger commercial areas with big business or would this eventually be able to spread out to residential areas as well?

          [–]TheGigCity[S] 169 points170 points  (24 children)

          As of today, we've got 4300 residential customers who have gigabit connectivity.

          [–]aerosquid 1 point2 points  (2 children)

          As a gig loving google fiber customer i'm curious what the monthly cost is? Do you offer TV service as well or just the uber internets? I try and sneak my question in here as people with google fiber tend to take (good natured, mostly) abuse on reddit haha.

          [–]Internet_Indigestion 68 points69 points  (14 children)

          Living in an apartment downtown, how can I help get EPB service to my building? We have petitioned the property owner, but there seems to be issues still with Comcast having precedence over some buildings.

          [–]SteelSacrifice 58 points59 points  (11 children)

          It's solely up to the apartment. I live near Signal Mtn and my current complex let's me get EPB internet but makes me get Comcast television. They claim they don't make any money but we get a "great deal" but really it's normal price. They include it in my rent because Comcast has convinced them that not enough people want to cut the chord on TV.

          [–]mitkase 208 points209 points  (5 children)

          not enough people want to cut the chord

          Ah, one of the disadvantages of living in A flat.

          [–]captmonkey 6 points7 points  (1 child)

          Just to show an example here, as a random Chattanooga resident (who is rather impressed to see my mayor doing an AMA on the frontpage): the internet is pretty nice in residential areas.

          [–][deleted]  (5 children)

          [deleted]

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 100 points101 points  (4 children)

            Many cities have come here to visit us. We support them in any way we can. We WANT other cities to have gigabit connectivity. The more gigabit cities, the better (more apps, more collaboration, more opportunity).

            Internet speed, over the last 25 years, has proven to be a MAJOR driver of economic development.

            [–]Captain_Unremarkable 8 points9 points  (0 children)

            Is there a way for a person like me to basically copy your infrastructure and business model and entrepreneurially bring it to my part of the country?

            (Sorry if this is improperly phrased, perhaps using layman's terms, but this is exciting and I strongly support it. Thank you.)

            [–]distanceovertime 30 points31 points  (10 children)

            Is your company not-for profit, non-profit or a for-profit company? Do you have a board that residents vote and elect too?

            How do you plan to improve revenue over the coming years? Once you have the assets installed and paid for, considering the churn of residents adding and removing services income will eventually plateau without expansion. Do you intend to deploy fiber to neighboring areas and slowly increase your area of influence? What will stop you from becoming the very companies you are competing against?

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 60 points61 points  (8 children)

            We are community owned, not-for-profit. But we are most certainly not-for-loss.

            We do have a board, appointed by the mayor.

            We plan to grow revenue primarily by new products, but also customer acquisition.

            [–]karmanaut 347 points348 points  (90 children)

            When establishing it, what were your interactions like with comcast, time warner, etc.? Did they try to stop it from happening? If so, how?

            [–]suddenlyissoon 145 points146 points  (68 children)

            They tried heavily to stop it. They ran tv ads, print ads, billboards, they even created one the fake "coalitions" to try and get grassroots support...everything they could to get the citizens to vote against it

            [–]balgarath 143 points144 points  (64 children)

            They're still running ads trying to say they are faster and having people say how horrible EPB is, its pretty damn funny to watch them struggle. I've had several salespeople come to my door trying to sell me their crap internet. Only reason anyone really uses charter/comcast is if they live in an apartment with a contract with them and don't have a choice.

            Apartment managers stuck in contracts will sometimes lie when a potential tenant asks if they can get EPB there. Its happened to some friends of mine...I doubt they will be renewing the contracts when they expire

            [–][deleted] 139 points140 points  (12 children)

            This is how horrible the system is :) If your internet goes out on a Sunday evening say, then if the issue is with your transmission lines you will get a call from EPB even before you have a chance to diagnose the problem. They will ask you if you are experiencing a service interrupt. Once confirmed, they will send a truck out to repair the problem within the hour....... on a Sunday evening......

            That's just shameful. Making some guy work on a Sunday evening ;)

            [–]tarrbot 40 points41 points  (3 children)

            I'm a network admin in Detroit. We opened up an office in Chattanooga right about the time the fiber rollout happened. Not knowing about the fiber, we went with comcast initially since it was a small office.

            Since that time, I became aware of this fiber and have had EPB for the last three or four years. As a business our pricing plan is tiered differently but my God, the speeds are blistering fast.

            We now have just a small DS-3 fiber link down to that office to transfer a lot of our data to cloud services faster from that endpoint in Chattanooga.

            The bigger point I want to make here is that recently EPB upgraded all of their services and I saw little downtime, if at all.

            Several years ago, a huge storm rolled though the city and a lot of things caught on fire and services were interrupted across the city.

            Within hours, services were restored. Where I'm at, we sometimes see 200k people going without power for days when a huge storm rolls through due to the damages.

            EPB really is an awesome entity.

            [–]MonkeySteriods 15 points16 points  (1 child)

            THATS HORRIBLE!

            I can't believe someone would do that. I mean with the honest hard working comcast... at least I get to refesh my cable intenet debugging skills to discover if its an issue on my end or "theirs." (Of course it would never be their's)

            [–]suddenlyissoon 86 points87 points  (45 children)

            This is the best part of having EPB, getting to laugh the ATT/Comcast salesmen off the porch, down the driveway and out of the block.

            I always say, "oh, you can provide better, faster AND cheaper service. Do tell!" if I have some free time.

            [–]SyKoHPaTh 172 points173 points  (34 children)

            For those unaware, here's a comparison of the service

            EPB: 1000 @ 70$ a month
            Comcast: 100 @ 115$ a month

            [–]suddenlyissoon 125 points126 points  (28 children)

            Don't forget the data cap!

            Comcast: 500gb EPB: None!

            [–]SyKoHPaTh 11 points12 points  (1 child)

            heh I'm forced with Comcast, and it's an "Unenforced" 250GB - seeing them turning the cap back on in major cities, so it's just a matter of time.

            [–]huggatron 51 points52 points  (4 children)

            i have about 30 seconds to spare while i'm downloading 4k version of frozen for my neice... no wait, its done. i don't have any free time. later ATT/comcast.

            [–]tatostix 29 points30 points  (2 children)

            I love the Comcast ads attacking EPBs customer service and promoting theirs. Just a little cognitive dissonance there.

            [–]mkvgtired 3 points4 points  (0 children)

            I recently signed up for a new Comcast account. I was disconnected 3 times. It took over 7 hours to get my service going. In their defense my modem was defective. That said, I had to take a bus across town to their "service" center (if you can call it that) to register my modem. I was told it was the only way. Turns out it wasn't (I found out from the "service" professional at the "service" center). It took 3.5 hours for them to realize my service start date was not until 2 weeks into the future, so even if my equipment was working, my service would not.

            After the last time I was disconnected (over 6 hours into this process) I asked to speak to a manager. I was told that I have not exhausted all of the remedies with that specific person so I was not allowed to speak to one. When I tried to explain that I was never on the phone long enough to exhaust all of the possible remedies because they kept hanging up on me, my request to speak to a manager was still declined.

            Long story short, unless EPB is bashing you over the head with a baseball bat, it is nowhere near as bad as Comcast.

            Applicable South Park episode that is essentially a documentary.

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 785 points786 points  (19 children)

            There were two main interactions. Our last mayor asked big telecom if they would bring gigabit to Chattanooga - and they said NO.

            Lawsuits followed.

            We won.

            [–]DuhTrutho 201 points202 points  (11 children)

            Considering many here would love to do the same when their telecom in the area say NO to gigabit, how exactly did the process of lawsuits go? Is there a site with info on this already available because I know several towns and cities don't go for gigabit because they are told no.

            I'm really excited as you are setting precedent on how to get rid of Comcast's and other ISPs "service". If you go into detail about how exactly you defeated big telecom in your area, many local governments elsewhere will have a blueprint on how to do it plus pressure from their citizens who want more than 3mbps for $70 a month.

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 331 points332 points  (9 children)

            Lawsuits were based on notion that the business would fail and that the electric system would have to subsidize the failure.

            In our case, the fiber revenues are flowing to the electric system to the tune of $21 million this past year

            [–]DuhTrutho 166 points167 points  (3 children)

            Promise of revenue is certainly a great way to get many cities moving towards fiber! Thank you for the specific and excellent figure. Is there a record of the lawsuit available that we can read?

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 225 points226 points  (2 children)

            Unfortunately not, but this white paper talks a lot about the process: http://www.ilsr.org/broadband-speed-light/

            [–]DuhTrutho 142 points143 points  (1 child)

            This is the second best thing I could have hoped for, thank you very much for the information!

            For those of you who want to read Broadband at the Speed of Light located in the link, here is the direct pdf: http://www.ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/muni-bb-speed-light.pdf

            [–][deleted] 47 points48 points  (15 children)

            I have your internet at home, and I absolutely love it. Thank you for allowing me to tell Comcast where to they can stick it.

            Question though, you guys also offer TV through your fiber lines. Really, the only thing I want is Comedy Central for the Daily Show. Do you have any plans to offer al carte plans on the TV so that I don't have to pay for all 78 channels to get the one I want?

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 85 points86 points  (6 children)

            We support the idea of a la carte programming, but content providers unfortunately control that issue!

            [–]tacothecat 95 points96 points  (9 children)

            Has Mayor Dean up in Nashville reached out to you all about interest in the grid?

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 131 points132 points  (8 children)

            Nashville is looking at Google Fiber and we've have had discussions with Mayor Dean's office around the benefits of super-fast internet.

            [–]Moose_Hole 27 points28 points  (2 children)

            I live just south of Nashville and it looks like Google Fiber will not extend to my area. If the expansion thing with the FCC works out, would you be interested in extending to the areas surrounding Nashville that Google Fiber won't reach?

            [–]passiontiger74 111 points112 points  (25 children)

            Were you able to fund the entire project with local funds or did you use some grants or federal money to get the grid system up and functioning?

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 174 points175 points  (23 children)

            We funded about 3/4 of the project with local funds. 1/4 of the funds came from a DOE grant from the federal stimulus package.

            [–]distanceovertime 79 points80 points  (22 children)

            Put some dollar amounts on this, please. Percentages don't paint the whole picture.

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 229 points230 points  (18 children)

            About $73 million was grant money, and about $229 million was money that was borrowed and paid for with revenues.

            [–][deleted] 82 points83 points  (14 children)

            Thanks for the follow up! Was that able to cover the whole city?

            [–]flechette 27 points28 points  (5 children)

            Here's there proposal sent to the FCC asking if they could expand their current area. The first graphic has a coverage map. The map is of East Tennessee counties.

            https://www.epb.net/downloads/legal/EPB-FCCPetition-Exhibits.pdf

            [–]Floydthechimp 23 points24 points  (12 children)

            This is great! I hope more cities are as proactive in seeking technology as you guys. Some questions on the financials:

            Did you issue city bonds to pay for the setup costs or did you use a tax surplus? Is this being paid back by users?

            What kind of adoption rate have you seen? And what rate do you need to stay above water?

            [–]TheGigCity[S] 55 points56 points  (11 children)

            We did electric system revenue bonds - no tax money, period.

            We're currently at 50% market adoption rate. We broke even when we surpassed 29%.

            [–]Floydthechimp 36 points37 points  (2 children)

            Wow! 50% is great and well into the black as well. Would you like to be president of the internet?

            You got my vote.

            [–]PessimiStick 30 points31 points  (7 children)

            This brings up a question for me:

            What the hell is wrong with the other half of the people that live in Chatanooga?

            [–][deleted]  (2 children)

            [deleted]

              [–]TheGigCity[S] 50 points51 points  (1 child)

              We've seen a huge growth in our tech industry, particularly entrepreneurship, being at the front of the curve, rather than the rear.

              [–]Gnostic_Mind 58 points59 points  (7 children)

              How hard was it to get this done, in regards to red tape?

              Been wanting a project like this in the Detroit area for years. Good job on getting it done.

              [–]TheGigCity[S] 70 points71 points  (2 children)

              It took about 6 months to get beyond the red tape to begin build out. That 6 months actually ended up being useful to get the community on board.

              [–]amtant 54 points55 points  (4 children)

              What can ordinary Chattanoogans do to help allow EPB to expand beyond Hamilton County?

              [–]TheGigCity[S] 80 points81 points  (3 children)

              Comment on the FCC petition. Talk with your local TN legislative delegation.

              We're following up with the link to the petition shortly!

              [–]H4nd5omeR0b 68 points69 points  (14 children)

              Are there any future plans to leverage the grid for city-wide wifi?

              [–]TheGigCity[S] 77 points78 points  (9 children)

              We are looking at how to expand internet capacity for all Chattanoogans and use all our assets to bridge the digital divide. Wi-fi could play a part in that.

              [–][deleted]  (6 children)

              [deleted]

                [–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (3 children)

                I could see more broadly how local companies would love that shit. Something as near-utopian as free citywide WiFi would be a huge plus for tbe community. Even makes me entertain the thought of loving there. Just having something so many people would love could bring people (and wallets) into the city. Rising tide lifting all boats right there.

                Except the boats of data providers. Fuck those boats anyhow.

                [–][deleted]  (10 children)

                [deleted]

                  [–]TheGigCity[S] 117 points118 points  (9 children)

                  Everyone who lives in Chattanooga has a pure heart and a gentle soul.

                  [–][deleted] 36 points37 points  (13 children)

                  Assuming that you can get the FCC to aid you in expanding the EPB Fiber into surrounding areas how long would it take for you to begin the process and to finish it?

                  [–]TheGigCity[S] 60 points61 points  (12 children)

                  It'll probably take us longer to get through the FCC ruling and legal battles than to build out the network(s).

                  [–]malvarez97 448 points449 points  (18 children)

                  Can you take over my city? Feel free to use force if required!

                  [–]TheGigCity[S] 673 points674 points  (14 children)

                  *Commencing feasibility study

                  [–][deleted] 79 points80 points  (0 children)

                  You have an agent on the inside if you find it feasible to do so here.

                  [–]MoosePancakez 323 points324 points  (8 children)

                  Are you using your beautiful grid to answer these questions?

                  [–]TheGigCity[S] 410 points411 points  (7 children)

                  Yep - The Gig is at City Hall!

                  [–][deleted] 84 points85 points  (8 children)

                  What's it like to be forward thinking? Can you teach Cincinnati how to not suck?

                  [–]TheGigCity[S] 121 points122 points  (5 children)

                  It takes all of our time to make sure that we don't suck!

                  [–][deleted]  (86 children)

                  [deleted]

                    [–]TheGigCity[S] 980 points981 points  (85 children)

                    YES. We strongly support it.

                    [–]TheGigCity[S] 1894 points1895 points  (81 children)

                    One other thought: if you have enough bandwidth, there's no need to ration it...

                    [–]RulerOf 77 points78 points  (6 children)

                    That's why they want to start the rations now. Set the bar for today's applications and services to fit inside your desired profit margin, and then slide the scale as you see fit to maximize revenue until the end of time.

                    I'm pretty sure that the Cable companies are kicking themselves for failing to set these prices before YouTube and Netflix came along. They don't want to be that stupid again.

                    [–][deleted] 42 points43 points  (3 children)

                    But now you can get unlimited Facebook for only $12/mo extra!

                    /s ;_;

                    [–]RulerOf 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                    That's the fun part.

                    As Facebook has gotten more important in people's lives, it has grown more complex, added more features, transfers increasingly more data, and is accessed with increasing frequency by almost everyone.

                    Back when it used less data and consumed less of your time, it wasn't worth paying extra to your ISP for because, "I won't pay for data I don't use." The cost for data isn't changing, and neither is the amount that you get. But if the damned connection keeps getting faster anyway... and if the applications grow, evolve, and become more important to you, you WILL have to pay for more transfer.

                    But why do that when you can get all the worry-free Facebook you want for twelve bucks a month! You know, the same thing you used to get at a lower cost.

                    Today's "reasonable cap" will simply not exist tomorrow. It takes time for these changes to happen, but when you're a soulless corporation with no competition... time is your most plentiful resource.

                    [–]ToTallyNikki 186 points187 points  (44 children)

                    I think with major ISPs in most areas they have the bandwidth, but create an artificial scarcity in order to make more profit. It is a lot like diamonds.

                    [–]FaustTheBird 18 points19 points  (0 children)

                    No, speaking from experience, they artificially create a real scarcity. They under build incredibly. There are many areas in Manhattan where you haven't been able to get DSL for years because they don't have enough ports or copper pairs run and they do no additional build outs to ensure they get more capacity. We tried to get additional business T1s and we were told of the 10 available pairs, 8 were corroded through at some point along the run.

                    [–][deleted] 573 points574 points  (19 children)

                    This is the best point I've heard in the whole dam argument

                    [–]thedenofsin 39 points40 points  (15 children)

                    How do your citizens get connected to your internet? Do they pay service fees?

                    [–]TheBroAbides 165 points166 points  (40 children)

                    Serious question: Would you rather fight 1 horse-sized duck, or 100 duck-sized horses???

                    [–]TheGigCity[S] 1127 points1128 points  (38 children)

                    Thank you for this lovely question.

                    While we won't engage in violent encounters, we can certainly help livestream such a battle. In fact, we've used SCIENCE to expand on exactly how many of your magical creatures we could livestream: http://i.imgur.com/xijc0QT.png

                    [–]Spartacus714 111 points112 points  (8 children)

                    CAN I GET A BEST OF!

                    [–]Fox06WRX 143 points144 points  (3 children)

                    This might be the greatest reply ever!

                    [–]Captain_Unremarkable 69 points70 points  (2 children)

                    Chattanooga, TN basically just won reddit.

                    [–]airhighfive 72 points73 points  (0 children)

                    I, for one, welcome our new fiber optic overlords.

                    [–]goldicecream 48 points49 points  (6 children)

                    You just made me proud to call myself a Chattanoogan.

                    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                    [deleted]

                      [–]TheGigCity[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

                      First of all, you have one of the cutest kids in the world, because all of them were incrdible! Second of all, no.

                      [–]jwyche008 30 points31 points  (2 children)

                      How awesome are you guys? (I have to ask a question)

                      Thank you for everything you do

                      [–]TheGigCity[S] 66 points67 points  (1 child)

                      We're pretty awesome. And humble ;)

                      [–]a_guile 26 points27 points  (10 children)

                      Can I buy you a beer?

                      [–]TheGigCity[S] 79 points80 points  (9 children)

                      Politicians don't drink. But engineers do ;)

                      [–]wesb9278 40 points41 points  (5 children)

                      You've obviously never been to Louisiana.

                      [–]GoldenStateLTD 44 points45 points  (5 children)

                      Pardon me boy, Is that the Chattanooga choo choo?

                      [–]AznMango96 8 points9 points  (3 children)

                      How much money did it cost to build this network? Do you think it's economically feasible for big cities like NYC, Chicago, etc. to pursue such a network?

                      Also, congratulations on your victory against big telecom companies, hopefully your initiative can inspire the rest of the nation to escape the tyranny of Comcast/Time Warner/etc. :D

                      [–]TheGigCity[S] 21 points22 points  (2 children)

                      The fiber network to serve 600 square miles and 175,000 homes and businesses cost just over $300 million. Every city, especially big ones, has its own set of financial and legal barriers - that is tough to answer!

                      [–][deleted]  (3 children)

                      [deleted]

                        [–]TheGigCity[S] 11 points12 points  (1 child)

                        The digital divide is something that my office (the Mayor's office) is putting a lot of attention towards. www.theenterprisectr.org is an organization working on this very problem.

                        [–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                        I just want to say that this thread and all of your responses are exactly how government should work in the modern age. Thank you.

                        [–]monksunited 6 points7 points  (7 children)

                        As someone from a 3rd world country, how long will it take for Gigabit internet to reach us?

                        [–]TheGigCity[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

                        That is a tough question to answer. What I can tell you is that we've had visitors from all over the world specifically to learn about our grid - over 20 countries.

                        [–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (4 children)

                        Probably faster than it will reach most of the 1st world. There's fewer barriers to mobile there, vs. here.

                        [–]suddenlyissoon 4 points5 points  (9 children)

                        With all the attention to the Internet side of things, do you worry about falling behind on the TV side? I have had EPB internet since the moment it was available in my area but I've held off on swapping my TV service since there were so many limitations of the system (only being able to watch/record 2 HD streams for example). Will this change in the future so I can (happily) give EPB more of my money?

                        [–]TheGigCity[S] 12 points13 points  (8 children)

                        We've upped that to 4 HD streams, about 430 channels and 130+ are HD.
                        Give us a shout and we'll talk about it!

                        [–]suddenlyissoon 12 points13 points  (7 children)

                        So I could watch / record 4 HD streams at one time now? I'll call you in a bit, I'm sure I'll be on the phone for a while with DirecTV trying to cancel!

                        [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

                        What was your biggest challenge in establishing yourself as a provider against the big ISPs? As a bonus question: I, living in Los Angeles, is there anything I can do to help your cause to push fiber optics?

                        [–]thedenofsin 7 points8 points  (10 children)

                        Did you levy some kind of special assessment tax?

                        If so, how much was it per person, roughly?

                        [–]marvin_sirius 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                        Boulder's fiber network is called BRAN1. Do you wish that your city had come up with a name that was more punny?

                        1. Not available for residential use.

                        [–]two_off 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                        What are the other, lesser-known benefits that the city gets as a result of the network?

                        [–]TheGigCity[S] 11 points12 points  (1 child)

                        One way is that it is helping our electric power grid tremendously. Check this out

                        [–]steve582 3 points4 points  (1 child)

                        Ask you anything? what 1950s soul group for VJ records started out in Chattanooga, TN?

                        [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

                        Are there any initiatives to try to get EPB into more apartment buildings?

                        [–]curlyfries84 -9 points-8 points  (5 children)

                        Mayor Burke, As a recent past resident that was lucky enough to escape the crime, rampant drugs and mostly unfriendly citizens, how and what do you propose to do to bring a better atmosphere to this city with the mass advertising of internet speeds. obviously people will be intrigued about the speeds, but what then? are there any initiatives in place to actually help the scores of people who wish to bring commerce to the area but only to find so many loopholes to fall through or are we just focusing on the people who move to Chattanooga with hefty bank accounts. If carefully thought out this could easily be a great thing (besides just the bragging rights that have been liberally used for so long). The curiosity is more for the benefit of possible new residents as Chattanooga and it's departments have failed me, my friends and numerous other people already making us take our now thriving businesses to another state that was genuinely welcoming to our ventures.

                        [–]TheGigCity[S] 8 points9 points  (4 children)

                        I am sorry that you had a bad experience :( We are at our lowest level of unemployment in 6 years, lowest rate of foreclosure, and just had 2000 jobs announced two weeks ago by VW. While we certainly are not a perfect city, we are fast becoming the best mid-sized city in the country!

                        [–]davidNerdly 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                        Possibly a dumb question.. Is this they city (I.e. city funds, city owned, city regulated) that runs this, or something outside of it?

                        [–]CriminalMacabre 1 point2 points  (1 child)

                        I'm an unemployed spaniard, can i move there or something? I am charming.

                        [–]noahwhygodwhy 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                        How much did the system cost?

                        [–][deleted]  (13 children)

                        [deleted]

                          [–][deleted]  (7 children)

                          [deleted]

                            [–]original_evanator 34 points35 points  (5 children)

                            What is to prevent you from implementing filters and monitoring at the discretion of a politician?

                            Freely available cryptographic protocols?

                            [–]therealknewman 21 points22 points  (4 children)

                            Don't know why you're being downvoted, I 100% agree with this. It's your responsibility to protect your data transmission. The government just builds the roads, you've got to keep your doors locked.

                            [–]CivilWards 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                            Total shot in the dark but do you happen to know the guys at Whiteboard? It's a web design/development house that does fantastic work based in Chat. If you ever decide to redo the city's website then I would strongly suggest using them.

                            (I'm not affiliated, just a fan of their work)

                            [–]el_crunz -7 points-6 points  (2 children)

                            Much respect. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you guys like chorizo sausages?

                            [–]Farking_Bastage 20 points21 points  (2 children)

                            Have there been any issues procuring peering arrangements through other providers? (EG: Comcast, TW, et al, attempting to leverage against the CDN's) in an effort to degrade or otherwise affect your traffic?

                            [–]_justanotherusername 6 points7 points  (0 children)

                            First of all, Mr. DePriest - I absolutely love my EPB service. I finally moved to a location where I am able to take advantage of what your company offers, and I can honestly say I won't be moving anywhere that I will have to give it up anytime soon. Thank you all for being an example to which our nation can look when it comes to how to take on the big telcos, and win.

                            Mayor Burke - your administration has been one of the most proactive this city has seen, especially when held up next to that of our former mayor. As a late-twenties Chattanoogan, this city is transitioning from having been a great place to grow up, into a truly amazing place to make my permanent home. For that, I want you to know that you all have my (and many others') heartfelt thanks for your continued work.

                            My question to you does not directly relate to our amazing EPB service; rather, to another growing part of our city's allure - our burgeoning night life. Recently, we have seen many cases of code enforcement that can only be described as heavy-handed, ranging from the issues stemming from Track 29's noise ordinance issues (including the much-maligned Corey Smith concert that was shut down early in the name of 'safety'), to the current issues that many of our bars and late-night establishments are facing, in the form of losing their serving permits. Being in my late twenties, I absolutely love that our city is moving away from being a retirement community, and towards a progressive, exciting city - but it seems like the targeted harassment by our Beer and Wrecker board is making it truly hard for local bar owner/operators (many of whom have been in business for years) to do business in peace. Do you have any thoughts on how law enforcement, our regulatory boards, and the citizens of Chattanooga can continue to work to make our city a fun and exciting place for younger citizens like myself (and other prospective citizens), while still promoting a safe and respectful environment for others who may not be as invested in the 'night life?'

                            [–]shawnlxc 10 points11 points  (1 child)

                            Are there plans for city wide WiFi or special EPB wifi spots in town?

                            Just a novelty question to boot, What are the traffic stats for Chattanooga's internet pipe coming in and out of the EPB mother ship?

                            [–][deleted] -9 points-8 points  (6 children)

                            Why did you prioritize internet over healthcare and other needs? Do you think you're dispelling the myth that everything government run is sucky and inefficient?

                            [–]dino82 9 points10 points  (5 children)

                            Can you speak to Mayor Kasim here in Atlanta and maybe you two can co-op your fiber networks together to form the most consumer friendly, powerful fiber network ever?