Knox News
Op-Ed: Help close the broadband access divide by combating digital discrimination
According to the 2022 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, "digital discrimination" involves determining who gets broadband access “based on income level, race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” As an example, some neighborhoods in cities get faster broadband speeds than those in poorer neighborhoods, creating a two-tiered effect. Nationally, the Federal Communications Commission has been empowered by Congress to handle digital discrimination complaints, which provides some remedy for those who find themselves on this new wrong side of the digital divide.
Knoxville Utilities Board clears final hurdle to provide broadband internet for customers
Tennessee's Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) has the green light to provide a public fiber broadband network to its customers. It will be a years-long process to provide 1-gigabit, symmetrical fiber internet service to every customer in KUB's electrical footprint; that's approximately 210,000 households in mostly Knox, Grainger and Union counties. According to KUB's proposal, service would start at about $65 a month and could begin as early as 2022. Service would extend to all of KUB's territory by 2029.