There are new opportunities to be found in the changing landscape of American broadband. The president is leading an abolition of state laws that impede competition against regional monopolies. The Federal Communications Commission reclassified Internet service as a Title II utility under the Communications Act of 1934, cementing the preservation of net neutrality. And the concept of municipal broadband has entered the mainstream consciousness thanks to media coverage of exceptional government-run initiatives like the gigabit network in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Chattanooga’s success was born from a unique culmination of timing, diligence and experience that should be studied but can scarcely be replicated. The city-owned utility that operates the fiber network, the Electric Power Board, has been in business for 80 years and started developing its gigabit network 16 years ago
