Key Issues

Connecting All Tennesseans

TCBA and its team working for all Tennesseans – rural, suburban and urban – is committed to closing the digital divide. Check out what our TCBA Team has done in just recent months to bring the infrastructure of opportunity to every Tennessean…

  • As a lead stakeholder in the high-tech communications sector, TCBA actively worked with and supported Governor Bill Haslam’s Broadband Accessibility Act (BAA). TCBA member, Comcast, partnered with community leaders in Tipton County in West Tennessee through the company’s investment along with partial funding from a BAA grant.
  • The statewide commitment to build out the infrastructure in underserved areas continues as TCBA member, Charter Communications has invested in to add over 20,000 additional homes and businesses that were previously impacted by the lack of connectivity.

Closing the Digital Divide

To deliver service to all Tennesseans, TCBA members are committed to investment, construction and infrastructure assets…not just empty promises.

  • Through Internet Essentials, the most successful comprehensive broadband adoption program in the nation, Comcast provides over 208,000 low-income Tennesseans to advanced communications in their homes, businesses and schools.
  • Charter’s service, Spectrum Internet Assist, was launched in 2017 to bring high-speed internet into the homes of families and seniors for a reduced rate. Spectrum Internet Assist delivers the fastest Internet speeds in the nation for a low-cost broadband program (30/4 Mbps) for $14.99 per month. It’s all part of Charter’s efforts to ensure more Americans have access to the technology and tools they need to participate fully in today’s economy.
  • Because access to infrastructure is just part of maximizing high-speed broadband, the members of TCBA are providing and partnering with communities and the State of Tennessee to address digital literacy programs to equip and prepare the lifetime learners, of all ages, for opportunity.

Supporting an Open Internet

TCBA members understand: It’s customers first.

The US Congress, back in 2015, initiated a regulatory model that does not serve the interest of customer content or experience using your digital communications. TCBA stands with you, the customer, in support of policies and laws that foster the development of an open internet free of the burden of rules and regulations that show up on your monthly bill as increased costs.

TCBA members do not support the practice to block, throttle or otherwise interfere with the customer to navigate and use their content as desired. Rather than limiting and managing access, TCBA works with its national partners in building powerful networks through over $1.4 trillion in private investment since the mid-1990s to improve your digital experience and opportunities.

Protecting Consumer Privacy

The security and integrity of your personal information is a priority with TCBA members.

Customers entrust their internet and cable providers with critical information and access to important information that ranges from banking to your health history to data about your children and family.

TCBA member companies are committed to preserve this trust and safeguard not only your consumer transactions but all your vital records and documents. Through options to reject data sharing to transparent privacy policies, internet service providers work to put you in greater control of your own personal data. Our members are also working at the federal level to encourage federal policymakers to address the need for strong and consistent consumer privacy protections that are standardized and enforced for all online services and social networks to protect you and your family.

Empowering Parents

Busy moms, dads, grandparents and caregivers need tools to choose the content appropriate for their children and families.

TCBA members provide programming on their networks for a wide variety of tastes and ages – informational, educational and entertainment. But because not all content is suitable for all ages, our member companies provide these tools to manage media that permit choice, control and education through V-Chip technology and the TV Parental Guidelines Ratings System to allow and to block various content.

Check out the tools and information provided by cable companies, like FAMFriendly.com, that can help parents make responsible decisions.

Leadership in Technology and Innovation

Since 2011, more than $2.2 billion in private investment has been poured into technology and infrastructure advancements. Over the last 20 years, more than $1.5 trillion in private investment has been deployed to build and maintain robust broadband networks across the United States.  TCBA is working to ensure availability, affordability and quality of fiber-rich networks that weave a strong thread through the fabric of our state’s economic powerhouse, throughout schoolhouses using digital libraries and lessons and into your homes for endless entertainment and educational resources.

Tennessee broadband networks have been bolstered to provide gigabit speeds throughout the entire state. TCBA partners, Comcast and Charter, have provided access to nearly every Tennessee customer gig speed service delivered via fiber optic lines that carries your entertainment, critical files and video content at speeds of 1,000Mbps.

The internet of tomorrow is in Tennessee today with even faster speeds of up to 10G expected for residential customers within just a few years.

The vast, robust network of opportunity made available to Tennesseans through our TCBA member companies is rooted in the commitment to be the leader in technology and innovation to benefit our customers and your needs at home, on the go, at work and play.

Energy Saving Information

High tech does not have to mean high energy waste.

TCBA members are committed to products and services that provide a sustainable approach to energy consumption and conservation and are making systemic improvements throughout networks and technologies.

Tennesseans’ dependence upon electronic devices and gadgets has grown and will continue to grow in every area of our lives. You also deserve innovation that addresses peak performance with the least amount of energy consumed.

Initiatives that provide the ENERGY STAR 3.0 set-top boxes, low-power adapters, cloud-based services and other advances in technologies ensure a green framework while offering great service. Advances in technologies have yielded a 10-20% improvement in efficiency for more than 90% of US broadband homes with paralleled improvements in speed and content delivery.

TCBA’s commitment is to sustainability, affordability and quality for Tennessee customers.

The Future of Wi-Fi

Wireless technology serves as the strong thread that makes our digital lifestyles seamless as we commute from home to work to school and out and about. The unlicensed spectrum, made available last when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone and the digital entertainment platform Roku was debuted, is due for an upgrade that will assist in increasing gig speeds but will also require bandwidth to satisfy the need for more versatile channels. Enter 5.9 GHz – the best near-term option for unlicensed spectrum suitable for Wi-Fi that will be key to next generation technologies and a future free of Wi-Fi traffic jams and bottlenecks.

TCBA member companies are working to deploy these next generation technologies to provide Tennessee customers with the networks that provide quality images and experiences while keeping up with the times.

Equipping Talent for the Future

Tennesseans are leading the nation in our economic health and do so because of the adaptability of our workers in professional careers and critical trades that support a growing economy.

TCBA members stand firm in our commitment to provide the infrastructure and services to meet the ever-changing needs of individuals, families, businesses and throughout our state’s growing workforce in preparation for the jobs of the future, but also excelling in the careers of today.

TCBA’s commitment to the best talent is reflected in the teams of our member companies.

  • Charter Communications has a workforce comprised of 11% military veterans and a diverse 46% of minorities
  • Comcast has a team of 35% women, 44% employees of color and has made a commitment to hire 21,000 veterans, military spouses and National Guard and Reserve members from 2015 to 2021.

TCBA members are representative of the tremendous diversity throughout our state.