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There's a municipal ISP in Chattanooga, TN that offers their residents gigabit internet at ~$68 per month. They even offer 10 gigabit internet (symmetrical) to

by xyst 6y ago

There's a municipal ISP in Chattanooga, TN that offers their residents gigabit internet at ~$68 per month. They even offer 10 gigabit internet (symmetrical) to the home. These offerings blow the major ISPs out of the water, and even in some cases are on par with Google Fiber (at a cheaper price). The way the system is now, most areas/communities are only served by a single ISP. In the past 5 years of moving in the city, I have only had the choice of selecting Spectrum.

aksss 6y ago
What are the financials behind this? I only ask because it’s pretty damned expensive to build a network and then do the O&M. $68/mo sounds like very old broadband prices that were subsidized by revenue from other channels (bundling). Does $68 get the city to a break even or is this running at a loss? Not criticizing, just curious how that pencils out - what true cost is.
- wing-_-nuts 6y ago
  IIRC they ran fiber with the power lines in order to enable a smart grid. They realized they had so much spare bandwidth that they could sell internet service. Basically everyone with a power connection to EPB can get fiber internet? Brilliant move. I'm considering Chattanooga as a retirement location. Lots of outdoor recreation, no state taxes and I can supposedly get fiber internet anywhere I can get connected to the power grid? Sign me up!
  - NationalPark 6y ago
    Wouldn't it make more sense to retire in a place with higher taxes and more services, since your income will probably decline as you stop working and begin living off your savings?
    - wing-_-nuts 6y ago
      You could be right. I've never seen a good comparison of services offered in one place or another. One other consideration is that I'd probably be doing a roth conversion ladder of my 401k so I'd owe state taxes there, but yes, it would be a fraction of my current income.
- kijiki 6y ago
  Sonic sells gigabit for $40/month if you're lucky enough to live somewhere they're allowed to get pole access.

by xyst 6y ago

aksss 6y ago

What are the financials behind this? I only ask because it’s pretty damned expensive to build a network and then do the O&M. $68/mo sounds like very old broadband prices that were subsidized by revenue from other channels (bundling). Does $68 get the city to a break even or is this running at a loss? Not criticizing, just curious how that pencils out - what true cost is.

wing-_-nuts 6y ago
IIRC they ran fiber with the power lines in order to enable a smart grid. They realized they had so much spare bandwidth that they could sell internet service. Basically everyone with a power connection to EPB can get fiber internet? Brilliant move. I'm considering Chattanooga as a retirement location. Lots of outdoor recreation, no state taxes and I can supposedly get fiber internet anywhere I can get connected to the power grid? Sign me up!
- NationalPark 6y ago
  Wouldn't it make more sense to retire in a place with higher taxes and more services, since your income will probably decline as you stop working and begin living off your savings?
  - wing-_-nuts 6y ago
    You could be right. I've never seen a good comparison of services offered in one place or another. One other consideration is that I'd probably be doing a roth conversion ladder of my 401k so I'd owe state taxes there, but yes, it would be a fraction of my current income.
kijiki 6y ago
Sonic sells gigabit for $40/month if you're lucky enough to live somewhere they're allowed to get pole access.