Fastest Net Service in U.S. Coming to Chattanooga

In the global race to see who can offer the fastest Internet service, an unlikely challenger has emerged: Chattanooga (TN). The city-owned utility, EPB, plans to announce on Sept 13 that by the end of this year it will offer ultra-high-speed Internet service of up to one gigabit a second.

That is 200 times faster than the average broadband speed in America. Only Hong Kong and a few other cities in the world offer such lightning-fast service, and analysts say Chattanooga will be the first in the United States to do so. "This makes Chattanooga -- a midsized city in the South -- one of the leading cities in the world in its digital capabilities," said Ron Littlefield, the city's mayor. There is one caveat: the highest-speed service will cost $350 a month, a price that may appeal to some businesses but few households, even though the service will be offered to all the 170,000 homes and businesses EPB serves.