now happening at c spire

Madison Capitalizes on Early Momentum Qualifying First Area for C Spire’s 1 Gbps Fiber to the Home Internet Technology Initiative

2015-04-28

Municipal leaders, volunteers follow through on promise to help city get its first area eligible for 100 times faster Internet and related services in only 36 days

Madison, Miss. (April 28, 2015) – Homeowner pre-registration in the city of Madison exceeded the required threshold late last week – helping the municipality qualify its first area for C Spire’s ultra-fast 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) Fiber to the Home Internet access and related services.

Madison’s Reunion fiberhood reached its pre-registration target last Thursday – just 36 days after municipal leaders promised to sign up more residents faster than any other Mississippi city for the next-generation suite of services, which includes 100 times faster Internet, Super HDTM TV and home phone.

The mark bested the previous fastest qualifying record for C Spire’s ground-breaking Internet technology initiative shared by the cities of Ridgeland and Starkville, which qualified their first areas for the game-changing program in just 51 days last year.

“Not only does this show the tremendous amount of interest in these next generation services, but it demonstrates that we are ready to move at the speed of light to qualify as many areas of our city as quickly as possible for this game-changing infrastructure,” said Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler.

C Spire expects to finish engineering, begin construction and offer the first commercial broadband Internet and related services in Madison later this year.

Butler said a key to the city’s early success is its partnership and mobilization efforts with schools, community groups, churches and neighborhood associations – all designed to boost interest and accelerate homeowner sign ups. “We are especially grateful for the neighborhood outreach led by our Mayor’s Youth Council and the Junior Ambassadors with the Madison the City Chamber of Commerce,” she said.

Online pre-registration began in Madison last month at www.cspire.com/madison. Since that time, hundreds of residents throughout the city have expressed their interest in the suite of game-changing services by making $10 refundable deposits and providing credit card information.

“We’re pleased with the early momentum in Madison and that the excitement of Internet at the speed of light is continuing to grow there and in other Mississippi cities,” said Suzy Hays, senior vice president of Consumer Markets for C Spire. “Fiber to the Home is a transformative technology that can serve as a platform for technology investment, economic growth and job creation.”

Butler said officials and volunteers still have a lot of work to do to ensure that the service is widely available in all 21 of the city’s fiberhoods. “We’re going to knock on every door in every neighborhood and make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to participate in this special program.”

Madison is the 7th and highest per capita income city to qualify for the historic statewide technology initiative. C Spire turned up commercial Gigabit Internet and related services for its first residential customers in Quitman, Ridgeland and Starkville last year and expects to activate service in Clinton, Corinth and Jackson later this year.

For C Spire customers, the 1 Gbps Internet access is available for $70 a month, $90 a month for combined Internet and home phone, $130 for Internet and super HD TV and $150 a month for the entire package of all three services. Non customers are required to pay an additional $10 a month on all packages.

To pre-register for the suite of services in Madison, go online at www.cspire.com/madison. To learn more about C Spire’s Fiber to the Home initiative, visit www.cspire.com/fiberhome.

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.