Electric Power Board of Chattanooga

This study computes the realized economic value of fiber optic infrastructure in Hamilton County and the city of Chattanooga over a 15-year period from 2011 to 2025. Our estimates show that the economic value of high-speed broadband and the smart grid exceeds $5.3 billion and 10,420 jobs over the study period. The incremental value of the infrastructure exceeds the cost by a factor of 6.4x. Each county resident is estimated to have benefited by about $936 per year due to the incremental value generated by the fiber-optic infrastructure.

A network of community partners working to completely bridge the digital divide for Hamilton County (TN) students came together to thank state leaders for dedicating more than $3 million in Tennessee Community CARES funding toward the effort to help students during the pandemic. The new funding helps advance several carefully coordinated initiatives by more than a dozen public-private partners. Hamilton County Schools serves as the hub for reaching the goal of providing all students with internet access - along with the devices needed to learn online.