What high speed internet means to Knoxville Utilities Board customers | Opinion

Knoxville is getting an upgrade. Just last month, the Knoxville Utilities Board connected its first customers to its fifth utility – high speed, 100% fiber-optic internet service. Residents in Knoxville and across our electric footprint will soon be able to access the world’s fastest internet from KUB, which has been upgrading our community for more than 80 years.

You already know that KUB supplies electricity, drinking water, wastewater and natural gas services, providing our customers with convenience and comfort in their homes since 1939. Access to reliable, affordable internet service has also become indispensable to our daily lives, and now KUB will provide that service too.

From the start, KUB has made thoughtful investments to ensure our customers could count on us to meet their utility needs. That commitment has grown to include a focus on continuous improvements through capital investments and innovative technology.

Our Century II program helps support the renewal and replacement of critical infrastructure, including countless facilities and thousands of miles of pipes and wires. That commitment to long-term planning and investment has helped our community to avoid some of the problems seen elsewhere when utility systems are not well maintained. Our customers know they can count on us to keep the lights on, and they don’t have to worry about whether their drinking water is safe. 

 Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

The pandemic heightened the importance of reliable internet service

We’ve also invested in new technology, including smart systems to improve reliability. These rely on advanced communication, so we began a decade ago to establish our own fiber-optic system to support this effort. Already, these devices help us avoid nearly 3 million minutes of customer interruption on the electric system each year – a real benefit to our community.

That upgrade allowed us to envision delivering high-speed internet as a fifth utility for our customers. And right about that same time, the pandemic heightened the importance of reliable residential internet service, as we migrated almost overnight to homeschooling and working from home. Today, some people are back in the office, but many are working hybrid schedules or have left their previous roles to maintain the flexibility of remote jobs. Our patterns of internet usage have been permanently altered, and our customers need affordable, dependable service.

And that’s just what KUB will provide. Since gaining approval to enter the fiber broadband business just over a year ago, we’ve been working hard to build a system to deliver high-speed internet, phone and television packages for our customers.

Sign up for Latino Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling stories for and with the Latino community in Tennessee. 

Sign up for Black Tennessee Voices newsletter:Read compelling columns by Black writers from across Tennessee. 

Our basic plan offers high-speed premium service

Unlike the internet services offered by private providers, the new KUB system will be available to everyone who has KUB electric service. While the installations will progress in stages across Knoxville and parts of seven adjacent counties, we’ll get there together. We’re providing a local solution that keeps jobs here and is responsive to the needs of our community. In fact, adding high-speed internet as our fifth utility will bring approximately 200 new jobs to Knoxville.

And, in another difference from our competitors, 100% of our service will be at a minimum of 1 gig speed. Up to now, that level of service hasn’t been available everywhere, and it’s been priced at a premium. KUB Fiber will offer 1 gig service as our basic plan, with a basic price to match, making it possible for everyone in our community to have the internet services they need.

We’re also proud of the fact that the State has supported our rollout through its investment of more than $15 million in funding to support service to previously unserved, mostly rural areas of our service territory. That money will allow us to reach those areas even sooner, providing a critical lifeline that many lack today.

KUB is offering a high-tech, high-value internet service that will transform the future of Knoxville by providing unmatchable speed, service and reliability for about the same money as consumers are paying now – the ultimate upgrade.

KUB exists to serve our customers. We’ve been continuously upgrading the quality of life for people in East Tennessee for the past 84 years, and we’re not done yet.

Gabriel Bolas is president and CEO of Knoxville Utilities Board.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What high speed internet means to Knoxville Utilities Board customers