Chattanooga is one of the cheapest fiber markets in the country. EPB Fiber, the city-owned utility, has covered the entire metro with fiber since 2010 and was the first US city to offer 1 Gbps to every address. AT&T Business Fiber and Comcast Business compete for commercial accounts, but EPB sets the price floor.
The pricing problem in Chattanooga is paying AT&T or Comcast prices when EPB sits in the same building. Most small businesses default to the incumbent without checking the muni option.
What sets Chattanooga apart
Chattanooga's commercial activity sits in three places. Downtown Chattanooga holds the legal, financial, and government corridor at the heart of the metro. The Innovation District concentrates the metro's tech, startup, and small-business cluster around the Edney center. The Southside is the renovated industrial-loft creative office and small-industrial spine south of Main Street. Volkswagen Chattanooga and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee are two of the largest commercial accounts in the metro and shape enterprise telecom demand here.
EPB's community-wide 25 Gig service launched in August 2022, making Chattanooga the first US city with a metro-wide 25 Gbps tier available to every residential and commercial address. EPB reaffirmed that footprint in a December 2023 board update. One pricing wrinkle worth knowing: the Downtown Chattanooga business improvement district is funded by a self-imposed assessment on properties inside the district, which can be passed through in commercial leases.
What you should be paying
These are dedicated internet ranges from current carrier wholesale data, marked up to typical retail.
Chattanooga dedicated internet, typical retail (mid 50%)
Monthly recurring charge, dedicated internet access (DIA). Numbers are derived from current carrier wholesale quotes. Shown as a metro-tier band where city-level data is thin.
| Speed | Typical retail (mid 50%) | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Mbps | $630 – $1,060/mo | n = 6 |
| 500 Mbps | $955 – $1,660/mo | n = 6 |
| 1 Gbps | $1,195 – $2,000/mo | n = 7 |
| 10 Gbps | $1,560 – $6,250/mo | n = 6 |
If your bill sits above the high end of the band, you are likely overpaying.
Analyze My Bill FreeFor EPB Fiber Business at 1 Gbps, expect $80 to $130 a month for a single office, which is among the cheapest in the country. For Comcast Business coax at 600 Mbps, the fair price is $150 to $230 a month.
Carriers worth quoting in Chattanooga
Five carriers cover most addresses in the metro.
- EPB Fiber Business. Municipal fiber, often the cheapest option in the metro.
- AT&T Business Fiber. Strong commercial fiber footprint downtown.
- Comcast Business. Coax everywhere, fiber in select buildings.
- T-Mobile Business Internet. $85 a month for 200 to 300 Mbps. Useful benchmark.
- Verizon 5G Business Internet. $99 a month at 400 Mbps.
If you have not had three of these on a quote sheet, you have not run a real comparison.
What to do this week
- Pull your most recent invoice. Find the contract end date and the side fees.
- Get one quote from EPB Fiber. They are almost always the cheapest fiber option.
- Compare your base rate to the bands above. If you are 20 percent above the high end, the retention call is worth making.
See where your Chattanooga bill sits against current rates
Upload your latest business internet invoice. We will run it against Chattanooga carrier wholesale data and flag the side fees that should not be there.
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