Tennessee Finds 13 Percent Without Broadband
One out of 8 Tennesseans doesn’t have access to high-speed broadband, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said in an announcement Tuesday. The department released a study that found 13 percent of the state, or 834,545 people, lack…
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access to broadband at the FCC standard of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds. The report estimated it would cost nearly $1.2 billion to build fiber-to-the-premise to that 13 percent. A less expensive technology approach using a combination of fiber and fixed wireless would cost about $491.7 million, it said. The department sent the report to Gov. Bill Haslam (R), the General Assembly, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the telecom industry and others, it said. “The information in this report is a starting point to advance the conversation about broadband access in our state,” Haslam said. “An internal working group will review the report and have discussions with stakeholders to develop potential solutions to close the gap on broadband access in Tennessee.” In commissioning the report, the state government sought to “establish benchmarks on broadband access in Tennessee,” the department’s Commissioner Randy Boyd said. “We need to evaluate these options and begin a meaningful dialogue.” The state department commissioned Strategic Networks Group and NEO Connect to do the survey of more than 23,000 Tennessee residents and businesses between January and March. Tennessee and North Carolina have a lawsuit against the FCC for pre-empting state restrictions on municipal broadband (see 1606210036). North Carolina released a broadband study last month (see 1606220032).