Comcast sued a city trying to build high-speed internet — then offered its own version (original) (raw)

The small city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has played a large role in the movement to expand high-speed internet around the US. It wanted to build its own municipal fiber network, but was sued by incumbents like Comcast. After winning in court, Chattanooga built its own high-speed offering, but was prevented from expanding this offering to neighboring areas by state laws. Earlier this year, the FCC voted to overturn those restrictions. And today Comcast has come crawling back, announcing it will begin offering its own 2-gigabit service in Chattanooga.

Incumbent ISPs are scrambling to catch up

"I think we would have welcomed the incumbents to come into town and to have done some of this work, but frankly no one was interested in doing it," Danna Bailey, VP of communications at the city's Electric Power Board, told Ars Technica. Faced with a better, cheaper offering, Comcast is now playing catch-up. A similar transformation has played out in cities where Google has built out its Fiber offerings. The local ISPs are now scrambling to improve their speed and prices to match.

"There are a few irrefutable truths about broadband," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler ahead of the commissions 3-2 vote overturning the Tennessee ban. "One is you can’t say you’re for broadband, and then turn around and endorse limits." You can try to endorse limits, and when you lose, decide to actually compete by selling it yourself. It's not a good look, but it is a win for consumers.