The Value of Broadband to a Community

A recent report, From Gig City to Quantum City: The Value of Fiber Optic Infrastructure in Hamilton County, TN 2011-2035, quantifies the benefit of the citywide municipal fiber network to the City of Chattanooga (TN). The fiber network is operated by EPB, the electric and fiber utility owned by the City of Chattanooga. The study concludes that the fiber network has brought $5.3 billion in value to Hamilton County and Chattanooga between 2011 and 2025, and offers a lot of interesting statistics to support that conclusion:

• The fiber network enabled 17.9 percent of employees in the City to work from home during the pandemic, compared to 9.7 percent for the U.S. as a whole.
• From 2010 to 2025, there were 255 major projects that invested $6.3 billion in new or existing businesses. This was a major improvement over the decade preceding the fiber network.
• The City has attracted numerous tech startups, particularly in the early years when the network was unique in offering gigabit speeds.