All Aboard 25-Gig Broadband Service: How Chattanooga Is The Next Business Hub For Tech, Finance And Healthcare

A catchy Glenn Miller song, scenic beauty, a railroad museum and the renowned Tennessee Aquarium are among the many highlights in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Starting in 2010 the city added a new attraction in the form of fast 1 gigabit-per-second fiber internet. It became known as “Gig City” as it was the first city in the Western Hemisphere to provide residents and companies with such blazing speeds. 

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In 2022, the city launched 25-gigabit internet services in a campaign called “quantum networking” intended to attract businesses and to appeal to remote workers looking for high-speed connectivity. The move positions the city as the next Austin as businesses and individuals look for less expensive places to set up shop and succeed. 

Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly recently unveiled an initiative called "Gig City Goes Quantum.” The initiative enhances the quantum technology education and training programs at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College. This expansion will cater to both degree-seeking students and those pursuing nondegree training, equipping them with skills to thrive in the emerging field of quantum technologies. 

Enabling Quantum Speed

Chattanooga is leveraging its existing fiber-optic network to lay the groundwork for the next generation of internet speed. It is planning for quantum networking that will transform data transmission. Instead of traditional communication protocols that use bits moving back and forth with the traditional zeros and ones, quantum networks use qubits, which exist in multiple states at the same time. This enables the development of unbreakable communication channels for optimal security, an attractive capability for healthcare, financial services and government contractor firms. It can safeguard financial transactions and personal information, keep patient data in the right hands and improve the reliability and speed of telecom connections.

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EPB of Chattanooga, a public utility company, leads the initiative to develop a quantum network in the city. By partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, EPB aims to establish a testbed for quantum networking and attract businesses and researchers interested in its possibilities.

The city's residents benefit from the high-speed service for a variety of purposes, including remote work, streaming, online gaming and data-intensive applications. Chattanooga's ultra-fast internet success is an example for other cities. It encourages other municipalities to pursue the positive impacts of broadband initiatives that foster technological innovation and economic growth. It underscores the importance of investing in robust infrastructure to meet the ever-increasing demand for both residential and business-oriented high-speed internet services. 

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