Knoxville Utilities Board clears final hurdle to provide broadband internet for customers

Tennessee's Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) has the green light to provide a public fiber broadband network to its customers. It will be a years-long process to provide 1-gigabit, symmetrical fiber internet service to every customer in KUB's electrical footprint; that's approximately 210,000 households in mostly Knox, Grainger and Union counties. According to KUB's proposal, service would start at about $65 a month and could begin as early as 2022. Service would extend to all of KUB's territory by 2029. The plan is inspired by Chattanooga's municipal broadband system, touted as one of the fastest and most reliable broadband networks in America, and is estimated to cost $702 million over ten years. KUB also said the utility is exploring offering broadband access for lower income homes that might not be able to afford the service. The utility has been authorized to enter into partnership with the City of Knoxville to provide a low-income option. While internet service providers and corporate lobbying groups are against the proposal, saying more time is needed to flesh out the city's plans, many social justice advocates, professors and Knoxville community members have spoken in favor of the broadband proposal.