now happening at c spire

Madison Parlays Early Momentum and Qualifies its Fourth Area for C Spire’s 1 Gbps Fiber to the Home Internet Technology Initiative

2015-10-14

Construction for 100 times faster Internet and related services underway in city’s first three fiberhoods

Madison, Miss. (October 14, 2015) – Homeowner pre-registration has exceeded the required threshold in Madison – helping the city qualify its fourth area for C Spire’s ultra-fast 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) Fiber to the Home Internet access and related services in record time.

Madison’s Cypress Lake-Lake Castle-Adderly Gardens fiberhood reached its pre-registration target on Wednesday, September 30 and now joins the Reunion, Charlestowne-Brisage-Madison Oaks and the Fontanelle-Ashton Park-Locust Hill fiberhoods, which qualified in April, June and August for 100 times faster Internet, Super HDTMTV and nationwide home phone service.

All four areas of town have reached their initial goal in record time – just 36, 79, 134 and 192 days respectively - after municipal leaders promised in March to sign up more residents faster than any other Mississippi city for the next-generation suite of services.

“This sustained momentum proves that our residents are excited about experiencing the benefits of ultra-fast Internet and are willing to continue the push to qualify as many areas of our city as quickly as possible for this game-changing technology,” said Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler.

C Spire has begun construction in the city’s first three fiberhoods and plans to roll out the first commercial ultra-fast broadband Internet access and related services in Madison next month. Service is expected to be activated in the Cypress Lake fiberhood in early 2016.

Butler said aggressive mobilization efforts by local schools, community groups, churches and neighborhood associations continues to play a key role in boosting consumer interest and accelerating homeowner signups for the services.

Online pre-registration in Madison began in March 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 pre-registering and making $10 refundable deposits.

“Fiber to the Home is a game-changer and promises to dramatically improve Internet speeds, boost home values, attract investment, create new jobs and improve the quality of life for consumers in the city of Madison and other communities across the state,” said Suzy Hays, senior vice president of Consumer Markets for C Spire. “The possibilities and opportunities with this type of next-generation fiber-based Internet access are limited only by our imagination.”

Butler said community organizers, neighborhood associations and volunteers still have a lot of work to do to ensure that the service is widely available in the city’s remaining 17 fiberhoods. “We’re redoubling our efforts to reach every resident in every area so that they know first-hand about this incredible opportunity to improve the quality of life in our community for generations to come.”

The mayor said several other Madison city fiberhoods, including Saint Ives, Sherborne and Northbay North, are closing in on qualifying for the engineering, construction and the service activation phases of the historic technology infrastructure initiative. “We’re about to culminate a lot of hard work in neighborhoods throughout our community and that’s very gratifying,” she added. “We need to continue our push to get across the finish line.”

Madison is the 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, in Clinton and the town of Flora earlier this summer and will activate areas in Jackson and Madison this fall.

The 100 times faster Internet already has made C Spire the fastest Internet service provider in the state, according to Seattle-based Ookla, which measures broadband Internet connection speeds worldwide through its Speedtest.net app and website.

The suite of services, which includes 100 times faster Gigabit Internet access, super HDTM TV and home phone, are competitively priced with additional discounts for C Spire Wireless customers.

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 and related services 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.