Tennessee Governor candidates want better internet in rural areas

GOP nominee for Gov of TN Bill Lee may run a $225 million-a-year business and live in the wealthiest county in TN, but when he connects to the internet at his cattle farm in Fernvale (TN), he has to use a satellite dish. "Like a lot of rural areas, we still don't have broadband and when there is a storm, we play a lot of Yahtzee at home," Lee said. But Lee said the lack of access to high-speed internet service is no fun and games for many rural residents. "Lack of broadband service really does inhibit the ability of many rural areas in our state to prosper," Lee said. To broaden broadband and bridge TN's digital divide, Lee said he is open to the idea of lifting the territorial ban that now limits where municipal utilities such as Chattanooga's EPB extend high-speed broadband. EPB, the city-owned utility that began offering the nation's fastest citywide internet service nearly a decade ago, is banned under state law from offering its broadband services anywhere outside of its power service territory in the Chattanooga area. Former Nashville (TN) Mayor Karl Dean, Lee's opponent in the Nov 6 election contest, has voiced even more support for rural broadband, advocating for both more state funding and new initiatives to expand high-speed internet into rural areas. "The first step should be to partner with utilities and the private sector to set a date for universal access and then work to get it done," Dean said. "It may require an investment from the state and we should be willing to make that investment in rural Tennessee."