Chattanooga utility offering fast Internet service

(AP) -- Chattanooga's city-owned electrical utility has started offering an Internet service that is among the fastest in the world.

Chattanooga's Electric Power Board says the service will provide a 1 gigabit-per-second Internet service. In a statement Monday, the utility says the service is more than 200 times faster than the current national download speed average.

But at a cost of $350 a month, it's also much more expensive than the typical residential plan.

The utility is working with telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent SA on the project.

EPB provides service to more than 169,000 residents in a 600 square-mile area in southeastern Tennessee and northwest Georgia.

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