for other uses see epb disambiguation . epb type public utility industry electricity telecommunications predecessor chattanooga electric power board founded 1935 headquarters chattanooga tennessee united states area served southeastern tennessee chattanooga north georgia key people harold depriest ceo services electricity internet telecommunications cable tv services website http www.epb.net epb also known as the electric power board of chattanooga is an electricity distribution and telecommunications company owned by the city of chattanooga tennessee . 1 in 2010 epb was the first company in the united states to offer 1 gbit s high speed internet over 200 times faster than the national average . 2 on october 15 2015 chattanooga implemented the world s first community wide 10 gig internet service available to all homes and businesses in epb s service area . 3 in 1935 an act of the tennessee legislature established epb as an independent board of the city of chattanooga to provide electric power to the greater chattanooga area . today epb remains one of the largest publicly owned electric power distributors in the country . 4 epb serves more than 170 000 homes and businesses in a 600 square mile 1 600 km2 area that includes greater chattanooga and hamilton county portions of surrounding southeastern tennessee counties and areas of north georgia . contents 1 expansions 2 fiber optics 3 over billing 4 see also 5 references 6 further reading 7 external links expansions edit epb is also providing its gigabit internet service in the chattanooga airport where visitors enjoy free high speed wi fi service . they set up a demonstration area in the former gift shop . epb also provides free high speed wi fi in miller plaza . 5 epb is also one of the largest providers of electric power in the us . 6 epb has chosen aimetis corp as their security system operator to optimize their efficiency . this is because of aimetis s robust video analytics and the open architecture system . 6 epb has petitioned the fcc to allow them to deliver internet to communities outside of the 600 square mile area that they service . nineteen states in the us have laws the make it difficult or impossible for utility companies to deliver internet outside of the area that they service . 7 fiber optics edit when epb first turned on the fiber optic network for internet customers were getting up to ten times the speed to which they were accustomed . even those with lower priced internet tiers saw their speeds nearly double . the service now has reached up to 10 gbit s. using fiber optic technology is much cheaper since the price of internet went down almost 300 per month when they started using the new technology . 8 in 2010 epb introduced enquesta 4 to their arsenal of security tools . 9 using a 100 % fiber optic communication network as its backbone epb has created a smart grid . the grid is a next generation electric system that includes communication capabilities designed to reduce the impact of power outages improve response time and allow customers greater control of their electric power usage . this same fiber optic backbone allows epb to offer high speed internet tv and phone service to business and residential customers in the service area . 1 in september 2010 epb became the first company in the united states to offer one gigabit per second internet speed a critical component of next generation technology innovation and economic development to more than 175 000 homes and businesses . this exclusive capability has attracted worldwide attention and earned chattanooga the nickname gig city . 2 over billing edit epb experienced some news coverage in 2014 concerning alleged over billing for streetlights . the claim is that epb overcharged east ridge 87 000 and red bank 304 000 in the last 20 years . this lawsuit was from one time city lighting contractor don lepard not through his company . his company is not concerned since the cities have not contacted the company about the suit . he asked for 4.8 million in penalties for false claims act violations and 1.23 million in treble damages . 10 lepard says that epb had been re classifying lights so that way they would cost more to the city . a hamilton county judge dismissed lepard s lawsuit against epb over street light charges . 11 see also edit cities with municipal wireless networks references edit a b boyle rebecca 2010 09 13 . country s fastest broadband internet will soon chug along in chattanooga . popular science . bonnier corporation company . retrieved 2010 09 13 . a b lohr erik 2010 09 12 . fastest net service in u.s. coming to chattanooga . new york times . new york times . retrieved 2010 09 13 . https www.epb.net media relations news news archive chattanooga implements worlds first community wide 10 gigabit internet service twenty largest u.s. publicly owned electric utilities ranked by purchase power expenses for all respondents 2000 . department of energy . department of energy . 2000 06 30 . pare mike september 16 2014 . epb gigabit service coming to chattanooga airport . times free press . a b aimetis corp secures electronic power board of chattanooga tennessee . nov 26 2012 . retrieved oct 13 2014 . states stand down let community broadband innovate gigaom 27 july 2014 craig settles fung brian september 17 2013 . chattanooga gets super fast internet . infotrac newsstand . retrieved october 12 2014 . chattanooga s electric power board epb goes live with enquesta 4 . nov 29 2010 . retrieved oct 13 2014 . smith ellis september 24 2014 . updated second whistleblower lawsuit filed against epb . times free press . http www.timesfreepress.com news business aroundregion story 2015 sep 11 judge dismisses lawsuit against epb over streetlight charges 324675 further reading edit fast internet is chattanooga s new locomotive . new york times . february 3 2014 . chattanooga s gig how one city s super fast internet is driving a tech boom the guardian uk august 30 2014 why a tennessee town has the fastest internet bbc news september 2 2014 external links edit epb company history smart grid v t e internet service providers of the united states domestic states active admiral online allied fiber american internet services aeneas internet and telephone airespring at & t at & t internet services atlantic.net bendbroadband bigfoot communications bullseye telecom centennial communications centracom centurylink charter communications comcast comcast cable dish network earthlink gogo aircell google google fiber google wifi graham holdings cable one epb echostar hughesnet linknyc lusfiber microsoft msn dial up oplin peoplepc sprint corporation boost mobile virgin mobile time warner cable time warner cable internet tri net solutions united online juno netzero verizon aol verizon fios verizon high speed internet viasat exede wireless minneapolis defunct agis ans applied videotech systems atala t atmnet excite home prodigy texas.net worldwide access pure talkusa domestic territories active caribe.net gta teleguam innovative communications onelink communications worldnet telecommunications defunct foreign active claro americas claro puerto rico cogeco cogeco usa ntt docomo ntt docomo usa softbank majority ownership of sprint t mobile majority ownership of t mobile us former vodafone through partnership with verizon related topics economy of the united states internet in the united states internet censorship mass surveillance arpanet a government set up local network retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title epb & oldid 737088070 categories power companies of the united statespublic utilities of the united statesinternet service providers of the united statescable television companies of the united statesbroadbandcompanies based in chattanooga tennesseetelecommunications companies of the united statesmunicipal electric utilities of the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in 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