Chattanooga, the First Gig-Speed City, Now Wants to Lead in Quantum
CHATTANOOGA, October 6 (Hypepotamus) - In 2010, Chattanooga became the first city in the country to offer gig-speed internet to every one of its residents and businesses. EPB, the city’s municipal utility, says that decision delivered $5.3billion in local benefit and helped recruit or retain over 10,000 jobs in the city.
“We thought, what is that next wave of technologies and services that could bring that much value to our community, if not more?” says Janet Rehberg, CEO at EPB in Chattanooga, told Hypepotamus.
Her answer is quantum.
EPB launched the first commercial quantum network in the U.S. in 2023 and now operates a commercial quantum computer alongside it. The company calls the combined EPB Quantum center America's first commercial quantum computing and networking hub.
Testing Quantum Outside The Lab
The goal is to move quantum out of academic labs and into the hands of companies. Rehberg said a quantum startup can relocate to Chattanooga and test on the hardware, while companies in established industries can buy time on the machines to try out use cases.
She pointed to logistics, healthcare and financial services as industries that could benefit, all of which have a strong presence in Chattanooga.
The pitch centers on "optimization challenges that traditional computers can't solve."
EPB is also working to lower the barrier to entry when it comes to quantum.
Tech Square Ventures is an Atlanta-based firm investing in enterprise (B2B) and marketplace technology companies.
Alongside IonQ, EPB launched CQ Connect, a webinar series that walks business leaders through applying quantum computing and networking to specific problems. Tracks cover biotech and healthcare, insurance, financial services, automotive and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, and logistics. Speakers at EPB's Quantum in Business conference stressed that companies don't need in-house quantum experts to get started.
What the city says
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said the project builds directly on the city's existing fiber network.
"EPB's quantum network and computer are built on the foundation of our municipal fiber," Kelly said. "We are leveraging this public asset to bring together researchers and businesses interested in what quantum can do for a variety of purposes. Chattanooga is the only place to do that in the country."
The mayor cited an economic forecast for the hub: "It's been estimated that EPB's quantum initiatives will generate upwards of $1.1 billion in economic output for the Chattanooga region by 2035. This hub is expected to create and support up to 2,034 new high-skill jobs."
For a mid-size city, Kelly said, those jobs "would break the glass ceiling and offer our residents opportunities in the higher-wage knowledge economy."
Maija Ehlinger
Quantum Across The State
Universities are supplying the talent. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the first U.S. university with a node on a quantum network, plans to add 135 to 240 faculty, staff and students focused on quantum. Vanderbilt University and EPB have also recently announced the launch of the Institute for Quantum Innovation, anchoring a Chattanooga campus with about 250 researchers, faculty and staff. At the state level, Tennessee is backing the work through the Tennessee Quantum Initiative and the newly announced Qubits grant program.
“We foresee there might be a quantum internet. If you look at when the internet was started years ago, Tennessee wasn’t [part] of that,” Rehberg added. “But now that we are in quantum so early, Chattanooga and the State of Tennessee will definitely be the first to those discoveries.”
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