Infrastructure Bill May Significantly Boost Tennessee Broadband

The $65 billion allocated to improve broadband internet access in the infrastructure law President Biden signed November 15 should make broadband more accessible and affordable for lower-income households across the US, including the 13 percent of Tennessee households that lack any broadband connections to the internet. US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently praised Chattanooga (TN)'s city-owned utility, EPB, for pioneering the first citywide Gig internet service as part of its fiber-optic network built more than a decade ago to create a smarter and more versatile electric grid. "Chattanooga's experience as 'Gig City' may mean that Tennessee becomes 'Gig state' because there will be funding for high-speed internet service in every single pocket of the state," Granholm said. "So every home will have access to high-speed internet." Granholm said the infrastructure package will also provide additional funding for more research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where scientists and engineers are studying Chattanooga-based EPB's fiber-based grid network to create more microgrids and energy deployment systems to improve electricity reliability and cost.