Hamilton Herald Masthead

Editorial


Front Page - Friday, September 2, 2022

EPB launches communitywide 25-gigabit internet service




After launching America’s first broadly available gigabit-speed internet service in 2010 and the first 10-gigabit internet service in 2015, EPB has launched the nation’s first communitywide 25 gigabits-per-second internet service.

EPB will make the new broadband network speed available to all residential and commercial customers over a fully fiber optic network with symmetrical upload and download speeds.

The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Convention Center is currently EPB’s only 25-gigabit customer. With this technology, the convention center will be able to simultaneously provide high bandwidth connectivity to thousands of smart devices during business conferences, video game competitions, streaming events and more.

Hamilton County and the city of Chattanooga have each dedicated $151,000 in infrastructure funding for a total of $302,000 to cover the cost of installing new networking equipment and Wi-Fi access points throughout the convention center.

The launch of the new internet service is made possible by EPB’s multi-year effort to upgrade its community-wide network with the latest optical signaling technology and the deployment of Nokia’s symmetrical 25G PON (25-gigabit passive optical network) fiber broadband technology.

With Nokia 25 PON, EPB can provide 25 gigabit internet services across its network while avoiding the need for one-off point-to-point installations.

EPB launched its communitywide gigabit-speed internet service in 2010, which quickly earned Chattanooga a reputation as “Gig City.” Today’s 25-gigabit enhancement follows a 2015 upgrade that made Chattanooga the first to offer widely accessible 10-gigabit internet service.

Because nothing is faster than the speed of light and fiber optic lines are very durable, EPB was able to upgrade the optical networking equipment to deliver even faster internet speeds without having to replace the fiber optic lines that made up the bulk of the expense and construction effort for the initial deployment.

Information

Source: EPB