EPB Chattanooga — The Municipal Fiber Gold Standard + Real 2026 Pricing
EPB Chattanooga — the publicly-owned municipal utility — has been the United States benchmark for fiber done right since 2010, when they became the first US city to deliver 1 Gbps to every home. They followed with 10 Gig in 2015, and 25 Gig in 2022 — the fastest residential internet anywhere in the world. EPB is owned by the City of Chattanooga + Hamilton County, financed by electric ratepayers via municipal bonds (already paid off), and answers to a community board — not a Wall Street earnings call. The result is the cleanest customer-service ratings of any US ISP and the most competitive pricing in the country.
The short version
- Who: EPB Chattanooga — publicly-owned electric + internet utility serving Hamilton County, TN.
- Footprint: ~600 sq mi around Chattanooga TN. Restricted from expanding outside this footprint by Tennessee state law.
- Tech: Symmetric XGS-PON fiber + 25G-PON. Multi-gig as standard.
- Speeds: 300 Mbps, 1 Gig, 10 Gig, 25 Gig — all symmetric.
- Contract: None. No data caps. $0 install on most plans.
- Customer service: Consistently top of every US ISP customer-satisfaction survey (J.D. Power, ACSI).
- Our recommendation: 🟢 GREEN — Gold Standard. Every other municipal fiber project models itself on EPB.
EPB speed tiers + real 2026 pricing
Verified at epb.com May 2026.
| Tier | Speed (down/up) | Monthly | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 Mbps | 300 / 300 Mbps | $57.99/mo | 1-2 person, 4K streaming |
| 1 Gig | 1,000 / 1,000 Mbps | $67.99/mo | Family of 3-4, WFH |
| 10 Gig | 10,000 / 10,000 Mbps | $299.00/mo | Power users, businesses |
| 25 Gig | 25,000 / 25,000 Mbps | ~$1,500/mo | Niche — labs, studios, fiber-to-the-rack |
Every plan: symmetric upload, no data caps, no contracts, equipment included, no install fee on standard plans.
How EPB compares to Chattanooga incumbents
| Provider | 1 Gbps plan | Upload | Contract | Data cap | Equipment | Price after Y1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPB | $67.99/mo | 1,000 Mbps (symmetric) | No | No | Included | $67.99 (flat) |
| Xfinity (Comcast) | $80/mo promo / $115 retail | 35 Mbps | Promo Y2 jump | 1.2 TB | $15/mo modem | $130/mo |
| AT&T Fiber | $80/mo | 1,000 Mbps (symmetric) | No | No | $10/mo gateway | $90/mo |
| T-Mobile Home Internet | ~$50/mo | 15-50 Mbps | No | Deprioritized 1.2 TB | Included | $50 (flat) |
The honest read: EPB is $12/mo cheaper than AT&T Fiber, $62/mo cheaper than Xfinity retail, with the same symmetric gig spec. The only reason EPB isn't your only ISP in Chattanooga is that they're legally restricted from competing in non-EPB territory. State law caps the footprint.
Why EPB is the model every municipal broadband project should copy
- Financed by ratepayers, not investors. No Wall Street pressure to extract margin.
- Built once, paid off, runs forever. The original $220M bond was repaid ahead of schedule. Now every dollar of revenue funds operations + upgrades, not interest payments.
- Customer service ranks #1 in every US ISP survey. Because EPB answers to a community board, not a quarterly earnings call.
- Network keeps getting faster. 1 Gig in 2010 → 10 Gig in 2015 → 25 Gig in 2022. Commercial ISPs only roll out faster tiers when forced to. EPB rolls them out because they can.
- Smart-grid integration. The same fiber runs Chattanooga's electrical grid sensors — that's how the buildout was financed in the first place. Smart-grid sensors detect outages in seconds, not hours.
The catch — Tennessee state law restricts expansion
In 2008, Tennessee passed a law restricting municipal broadband utilities from expanding outside their electric-service territory. EPB tried to expand to neighboring underserved communities (Bradley County, Polk County) — the law blocked them. If you live just outside the EPB footprint in greater Chattanooga, you can't get EPB — even though EPB would happily serve you.
Several lawsuits + repeal attempts have failed at the state legislative level. The incumbent cable lobby (Charter, Comcast) has spent millions defending this restriction nationally. If you care about municipal broadband expansion, EPB's expansion fight is the canonical case study.
Rick's installer take
EPB is what every cable customer in America deserves. They show that publicly-owned broadband can be profitable, well-managed, technically world-leading, and beloved by customers — all at the same time. If you live in Chattanooga, EPB is the only ISP you should consider unless you specifically need something they don't offer. If you live anywhere else in America, EPB is the benchmark you should be measuring your local provider against.
How to check your address
- Visit epb.com/internet and use the address checker.
- If you're in EPB territory, sign up. There's no reason to pay another provider.
- If you're just outside, our Coverage Grid shows what's actually available at your address.