A Return On Gig City Investment For The Chattanooga Area

By Ray Bassett

Published January 12, 2026 at 8:11 PM EST

(Aired Tues 1/06/26)

Since EPB launched its fiber optic network and automated electric grid here in Chattanooga in 2010, those investments have generated 5.3 billion dollars of economic gains for this region.

That’s the finding of a peer-reviewed economic impact study conducted by Dr. Bento Lobo, head of the Department of Finance and Economics at the Gary W. Rollins College of Business here on our campus, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

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