Fastest Net Service in U.S. Coming to Chattanooga

In the global race to see who can offer the fastest Internet service, an unlikely challenger has emerged: Chattanooga, Tenn.

The city-owned utility, EPB, plans to announce on Monday that by the end of this year it will offer ultra-high-speed Internet service of up to one gigabit a second. That is 200 times faster than the average broadband speed in America.

Only Hong Kong and a few other cities in the world offer such lightning-fast service, and analysts say Chattanooga will be the first in the United States to do so. “This makes Chattanooga — a midsized city in the South — one of the leading cities in the world in its digital capabilities,” said Ron Littlefield, the city’s mayor.

By Steve Lohr

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/technology/13broadband.html?_r=4&emc=eta1