Chattanooga: Capitalizing on G-bit speed

The Intelligent Community Forum says Chattanooga, thanks to the fiber-optic network from EPB, is one of Earth's 21 most intelligent communities. TFP has it. The TFP reported earlier on Chattanooga market competition among EPB, Comcast and AT&T. And, the TFP reported on Chattanooga's Lyndhurst Foundation's funding study of ways to capitalize on the River City's newfound technology advantage.

Comcast asks price freedom in Chattanooga

Chattanooga says that given tougher competition from EPB and other players in the Chattanooga market, Comcast should be free of pricing restrictions, and has asked Chattanooga to declare de-regulation of pricing. Comcast said that if the city doesn't do that, Comcast will appeal directly to the FCC. Chattanoogan.com has it.

FCC's Net Neutrality posture challenged

The FCC, say some observers, is likely to lose in its confrontation with Comcast over restricting bandwidth consumption of Web users, a situation that could weaken the Feds' drive for Net Neutrality, now deemed the hottest issue in telecom. The Washington Post reports.

EPB may skip Signal Mtn.

Signal Mountain, adjacent Chattanooga, may be skipped by EPB, because of a dispute over possible links between EPB service offerings and the current Comcast franchise with the municipality. Chattanoogan.com reports.

AT&T U-verse in Eastate

Eighteen months after winning the right for statewide video franchise for its new U-verse TV service, AT&T is lighting-up in East Tennessee. The KNS reports.

EPB broadband launch

EPB, the utility that's acting like a bundled-services provider, yesterday formally launched its broadband services in Chattanooga, taking on Comcast in a much contested venture. The TFP reports. EPB's release here.

ECD supports ConnectedTN

As reported here earlier, ConnectedTN and its parent company have gotten plenty of criticism, which was reported by The Wall Street Journal. Yesterday, the State Science & Technology Institute (based in Ohio) provided an even-handed review of the dispute in SSTI's weekly news update, including mention of Tennessee. Almost simultaneously, over at the Economic and Community Development agency led by potential Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Matt Kisber, ECD communications staff issued a news update that included a brief definition of ConnectedTN's duties, with no reference to the ongoing criticism of the company. ConnectedTN is working for ECD under a 3-year, $6.25MM contract that runs another year. ConnectedTN chief Michael Ramage recently told VNC he doesn't believe the criticism of the parent company and its service model is significantly affecting operations in TN. Ramage said he believes much of the criticism is typical of the kind of controversy and interests that swirl around public-private partnerships of all kinds.