Chattanooga touts 変形 into Gig City
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) ― A city once 悪名高い for the smoke-belching foundries that 一面に覆う／毛布d its buildings and streets with a 激しい 層 of すす is turning to 雷-急速な／放蕩な Internet 速度(を上げる）s to try to transform itself into a vibrant tech 中心.
Through a combination of political will and 連邦の 刺激 money, 175-year-old Chattanooga became the first U.S. city to 概して 申し込む／申し出 a gigabit per second internet 速度(を上げる）s ― nearly 50 times the 国家の broadband 普通の／平均（する）.
Whether that's enough to turn a modest southern city into a 小型の Silicon Valley remains to be seen, but 地元の leaders are betting they've positioned themselves 井戸／弁護士席 for what lies ahead in the 全世界の economy.
In this Nov. 17, 2014, photo, Chattanooga, Tenn. 市長 Andy Berke stands in 前線 of an 空中の image of Chattanooga, on the 塀で囲む of his 会議／協議会 room. Berke is a major promoter of the city's 地方自治体の 繊維 視覚の 網状組織 that 供給するs Internet 速度(を上げる）s at more than 50 times the 国家の 普通の／平均（する）. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)
"This is an old town with a new 見通し," said Aaron Welch, who became a hero of the 現れるing tech scene when he sold his app that reserves 明確な／細部 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs at restaurants to a 競争相手 for $11.5 million.
Other startups migrating to the "Gig City" to tap into the 政府-owned broadband 網状組織 含む 3D Ops, which 変えるs MRI or CT ざっと目を通すs into anatomical replicas to help doctors 準備する for 外科s; shoemaker Feetz, which makes custom footwear using 3D printing 科学（工学）技術; and moving service Bellhops, which 調整するs the 兵たん業務 of managing 8,000 college student 請負業者s 全国的な.
The nascent tech scene is the 最新の 開発 in Chattanooga's １０年間s-long 成果／努力 to reinvent itself after a 1969 連邦の 熟考する／考慮する called it the most 汚染するd U.S. city.
A downtown 復活 over the last two １０年間s was 錨，総合司会者d by the Tennessee 水槽 and a $120 million redevelopment of the Tennessee River waterfront. German 自動車製造業者 Volkswagen in 2008 特記する／引用するd the city's turnaround in its 決定／判定勝ち（する） to build a $1 billion 議会 工場／植物 on the 場所／位置 of a former TNT 工場／植物.
The city 就任するd its 繊維 視覚の 網状組織 ― with a $111 million 上げる from the 2009 連邦の 刺激 一括 ― even as larger cities like Atlanta and Nashville wait for 私的な providers like AT&T and Google to roll out 類似の service.
"We're at a pivotal time in the 関係 between cities and communications 網状組織s, " said Susan Crawford, a professor at Harvard 法律 School who has written extensively about the 力／強力にする of Internet providers. "And there are 市長s all over the country who are watching Chattanooga with envy and wishing and planning for 繊維 視覚の 網状組織s of their own."
While 商業の providers 選ぶ and choose which 近隣s to serve, Chattanooga's 網状組織 covers the city.
"The whole point is that you want everyone to have this capacity, and not to leave anyone behind," said Crawford.
Chattanooga's 繊維 網状組織 grew out of 成果／努力s to 任命する／導入する a smart electric grid in a city where トルネード，竜巻s and ice 嵐／襲撃するs have 原因（となる）d serious 力／強力にする outages. During the 昇格, the Electric 力／強力にする Board, or EPB, also 問題／発行するd $226 million in 社債s to help 基金 a 繊維 視覚の 網状組織, hoping the 最高の 急速な／放蕩な phone and Internet service would attract new 商売／仕事.
によれば the 連邦の Communications （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限, the 普通の／平均（する） broadband 速度(を上げる） in 2013 was 21.2 megabits per second. A gigabit equals 1,000 megabits.
"Our competitors have said things like, 'Oh nobody needs a gig,'" EPB's 大統領，／社長 and CEO Harold DePriest said at a 最近の tech 会議 in a 変えるd downtown church. "That's 絶対 true. But how many of us need color TV? We have color TV because we want color TVs.
"And in America we have this unique way of making wants into needs," he said.
The 繊維 網状組織 has upload 速度(を上げる）s matching downloads, bringing 近づく real-time 移転 of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） between high-bandwidth 使用者s. It let musicians T Bone Burnett in Los Angeles and Chuck Mead in Chattanooga play a live concert together while thousands of miles apart in December 2013.
Jonathan Taplin, director of the Annenberg 革新 Lab at the University of Southern California, which helped 組織する the concert, said entertainment (n)役員／(a)執行力のあるs might be intrigued.
James Cameron, director of the movies "Avatar" and "Titanic," wants to make films at 二塁打 the 現在の ultra-high 鮮明度／定義 4K 基準, Taplin said. The 500 megabits per second needed would be out of reach for most, but Chattanooga's 繊維 顧客s "could 扱う that today."
The 地方自治体の 網状組織 has been 非難するd for 不公平に （人が）群がるing out 私的な providers.
"EPB's entire 網状組織 is propped up on the 支援するs of ratepayers and taxpayers," said Justin Owen, 長，率いる of the Beacon 中心 of Tennessee, a 保守的な think 戦車／タンク.
市長 Andy Berke 反対するs that the city had no other 選択.
"No one was begging to come to Chattanooga to put up a 繊維 視覚の 網状組織," he said.
EPB 最初 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d $350 a month for the gigabyte 速度(を上げる）, but has 削除するd that to $70, 運動ing subscriptions from より小数の than 100 to more than 4,700. Another 55,000 居住の 顧客s get the cheaper 100-megabyte service.
Tech startup guru Sheldon Grizzle 設立するd The Company Lab to 持つ／拘留する tech 競争s and mentorship programs that take advantage of the city's internet capacity ― and to connect entrepreneurs with 投資家s. They 含むd Welch, who first hashed out his 保留（地）／予約 app idea in one of the lab's 48-hour startup 競争s.
Grizzle in 2011 説得するd Welch to やめる his day 職業 by helping land a $65,000 投資 in his company, Quickcue, which was sold to 保留（地）／予約 巨大（な） Open （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in 2013. Welch went on to 設立する アイロンをかける Gaming, which hosts 競争s for gamers, and is working on creating a television 網状組織 for computer geeks.
But Welch said developers still struggle to 誘惑する 財政上の 支援者s in a city long associated with 重工業, the Chattanooga Choo-Choo and the country's first Coca-Cola 瓶／封じ込めるing 工場／植物 ― though there are 調印するs that 投機・賭ける 資本主義者s in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles might finally be 支払う／賃金ing attention.
"Now, it's like 'Oh, yeah, they have that really 今後-looking, 前進するd 組織／基盤／下部構造,'" Grizzle said.
Other cities, 含むing Austin, Texas; Santa Monica, California; and Kansas City, are coming online with their own 繊維 網状組織s, while several others have 計画（する）s to build them. Berke sees that as a good thing for his city.
"If nobody else has it, there's nothing for us to develop that will work どこかよそで," he said. "So it's 必須の that more cities get this."
In this Nov. 17, 2014, photo, men walk by a 調印する in Chattanooga, Tenn., 促進するing it as Gig City. The city's 地方自治体の 繊維 視覚の 網状組織 供給するs Internet 速度(を上げる）s at more than 50 times the 国家の 普通の／平均（する）. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)
In this Nov. 17, 2014, photo, tech entrepreneur Aaron Welch 提起する／ポーズをとるs in 前線 of a bank of television 審査するs in the 会議／協議会 room of Luken Communications in Chattanooga, Tenn. Welch is one of the 早期に success stories of Chattanooga's 焦点（を合わせる） on fostering the 数字表示式の economy. Welch's restaurant 保留（地）／予約 app called Quickcue sold to Open （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する for $11.5 million in 2013. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig)
