C Spire says it will begin in Tupelo an initiative to offer gigabit-speed internet access to businesses in Mississippi. The internet service provider intends to make ultra-fast broadband internet accessible to one out of every five of Mississippi's 250,000 businesses through the initiative, which is part of the company's Tech Movement high-speed broadband effort.
Tupelo is one of a minimum of 24 cities that C Spire has selected for the business broadband program. (The company subsequently revealed Laurel as the second city on the list.) As was the case with the service provider's fiber to the home (FTTH) service rollout (see "C Spire names Get Fiber First finalists for 1-Gbps FTTH"), Tupelo has been divided into six business areas, or fiberhoods, which are within several hundred feet of C Spire's buried fiber-optic cable infrastructure. The 3,300 businesses that are outside the fiberhoods can receive the service if enough interest is demonstrated, says Allen McIntosh, C Spire Business Solutions vice president and general manager.
C Spire says that together with Tupelo's Mayor Jason Shelton, it invited 1,300 local business owners to a pair of meetings on Monday, November 6 at the BancorpSouth Arena and Conference Center to provide information on accessing gigabit-speed internet at prices starting at $200. According to McIntosh, the meetings were intended to gauge interest among businesses and plan for the project's next steps.
"I've had a vision for some time now to see our city become the first in Mississippi to make gigabit speed internet access available to all our 4,400-plus businesses and nearly 39,000 residents," said Mayor Shelton.
C Spire extended its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) program to create C Spire Tech Movement. The business internet initiative is the second phase of the private sector technology deployment of ultra-fast broadband internet and wireless fiber-based fixed internet expansion that aims to reach more than 250,000 consumers and small businesses in the state, says C Spire.
C Spire plans to share information on specific markets, pricing, and speeds in the programs as each phase of the Tech Movement rolls out. More details of the Tech Movement can be found on the company website.
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