Gulfport, Biloxi to get fiber-based next-gen residential broadband services from C Spire

GULFPORT, Miss., Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Two major cities in Harrison County are the latest markets for C Spire's next-generation residential Fiber-to-the-Home program, which features ultra-fast Gigabit speed internet access, award-winning live streaming TV and premium digital home phone service.

C Spire Home, the unit that manages the company's residential fiber program, will begin work early next month to install the ultra-fast broadband infrastructure in the first Gulfport neighborhoods with plans to expand the program to include fiberhoods in neighboring Biloxi early next year.

The company plans to turn up service to the first customers in the first quarter of next year and will pass thousands of homes in the state's second most populous county by next summer. The addition of the two Harrison County cities brings the number of markets participating in the Fiber-to-the-Home program to 23, one of the largest programs of its type in the U.S.

"Residential fiber is transformational and this revolutionary technology infrastructure promises to boost home values, broaden entertainment opportunities, help expand the local economy and improve the quality of life for homeowners," said Ashley Phillips, general manager of C Spire Home Services. "We expect to move quickly to activate these services."

"Ultra-fast broadband will help us achieve our vision to help the world rediscover our region and accelerate efforts to expand our rich, diverse and vibrant economy," said Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes. "Making our region a great place to live and work – not just visit – is one of my primary goals and dependable and affordable broadband will help us get there faster."

Biloxi Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich said Gigabit-speed broadband from C Spire is a "game-changer" that will have long-lasting impacts on tourism, education, industry and health care in his city.  "Broadband infrastructure is as important as water and electricity and we are excited about extending this quality-of-life benefit in our community."

The first customers to receive the services not only will experience a quantum leap in broadband internet speeds and capacity, but also get access to digital home phone service and the nation's first app-based, live streaming digital commercial TV service honored by the cable TV industry in 2017 as the best television technology product in the U.S.

C Spire TV delivers advanced cable TV features that consumers love in a convenient and simple app that is designed to run on popular streaming devices, such as Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, and Apple TV – eliminating the need to outfit every TV in the home with a set top box and saving several hundred dollars a year in rental fees.

The Harrison County residential fiber program is leveraging new infrastructure additions in key areas along Mississippi's Gulf Coast to C Spire's over 9,200 route miles of backbone fiber optic cable that spans the state.  "Our services are future-proofed with the incredible capacity that this technology supports," Phillips said.

Mississippi Public Service Commission Southern District Commissioner Sam Britton, a long-time advocate for more broadband in the Pine Belt and along the Gulf Coast, said he expects the 21^st century technology to transform the way homeowners live, work and play while boosting education, job opportunities and economic development in Harrison County.  "Great internet access is critical to our success and I appreciate C Spire's continuing efforts to make it a reality here."

The Harrison County Board of Supervisors also has worked to improve internet access for residents and businesses.  The project will involve 20 fiberhoods and cover a majority of the two cities' 46,000 households.

Recent nationwide studies have concluded that Gigabit speed fiber-optic connections like those provided by C Spire Home Services can add $5,437 (3.1 percent) to the price of a $175,000 home – about as much as a fireplace, or half the value of a bathroom.

With the addition of the cities of Gulfport and Biloxi, C Spire has rolled out ultra-fast Gigabit internet access and related services in 23 Mississippi markets, boosting overall broadband connection speeds in the state by 200 percent since 2014.  The suite of services is competitively priced and is expected to pave the way for a boom in smart home applications, innovation and growth of the regional economy. 

Residential fiber is part of the C Spire Tech Movement, which is committed to moving communities forward through technology with a focus on broadband access, workforce development and technology innovation.

To learn more about C Spire Fiber service and pricing or to find out if your home is in an area with this next-generation technology infrastructure, visit www.cspire.com/gulfport.  To learn more about the C Spire Tech Movement, visit www.cspire.com/techmvmt.

About C Spire
C Spire is a diversified telecommunications and technology services company that provides world-class, customer-inspired wireless communications, 1 Gigabit consumer Internet access as well as a full suite of dedicated Internet, wireless, IP Voice, data and cloud services for businesses.  This news release and other announcements are available at www.cspire.com/news. For more information about C Spire, visit www.cspire.com or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cspire or Twitter at www.twitter.com/cspire.

SOURCE C Spire

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