Removing Barriers to Competitive Community Broadband [telecom]

By Tom Wheeler, FCC Chairman, CED, June 10, 2014

If any city understands the power of networks to drive economic growth, it's Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Chattanooga's proximity to the Tennessee River - a natural network - fueled its initial growth. When the railroad network arrived in the mid-19th century, Chattanooga became a boom town. The railroad allowed raw material to flow into the area and finished products to flow out to markets around the country - making Chattanooga an industrial powerhouse.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, and when it comes to networks driving economic growth in Chattanooga, past is prologue.

Mayor Berke and the city's leaders recognized that today's high-speed broadband networks will be the indispensable platform for tomorrow's economic growth and the jobs of the future. That's why Chattanooga invested in building out one of the nation's most robust community broadband networks.

The network was partly built out of necessity. Local phone and cable companies chose to delay improvements in broadband service to the Chattanooga area market. Without faster networks, Chattanooga residents were at risk of finding themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide, bypassed by the opportunities high-speed connectivity enables.

formatting link

Neal McLain

Reply to
Neal McLain
Loading thread data ...

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.