Battling to become gigacities

Amid concerns in some markets that big telecoms and cable companies are providing service that is too slow and too expensive, some cities are starting their own Internet services, spending millions of dollars to bring super-high-speed, or gigabit, Internet service to their communities through a new fiber-optic infrastructure.

Proponents call it the single most important piece of infrastructure of the 21st century, attracting businesses, bolstering education and raising property values. But it’s a layer of competition the telecom giants don’t support. The industry says it shouldn’t have to compete against a government entity and are pulling out all the stops to prevent these cities from going gig — suing them and even influencing restrictive laws in 19 states. One place this battle has materialized is Chattanooga, Tennessee.